Pope John Paul II, Radio Free Europe, and Faith Diplomacy

Abstract

The post–World War II (WWII) period marked the beginning of a significant increase in tensions between the religious missions of the Catholic Church and the atheistic policy objectives of the Soviet Union in communist Europe. Using communist Poland as a case study, this chapter examines the faith diplomacy tactics employed by the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, Pope John Paul II, and the Polish section of Radio Free Europe to counter the influence of the communist regime. The temporal scope of analysis begins with the launch of Radio Free Europe in 1949 and continues through the next three decades, concluding with the historic first visit by Pope John Paul II to Poland in 1979 and the 1980 founding of the Polish trade union federation “Solidarity.” Analysis of this unique period in Polish history reveals the convenient mutualism that existed between the religious agenda of the Catholic Church and the ideological agenda underpinning Radio Free Europe’s anticommunist broadcasts. By highlighting the striking synchronicity with which these separate yet parallel agendas operated in communist Poland, the chapter sheds light on the multifaceted role that faith diplomacy played in helping to lay the groundwork for the victory of Solidarity over the communist regime through free elections in 1989 and the subsequent election of Solidarity leader Lech Walesa as the first president of the Republic of Poland in 1990.