And so it happened: since the Renaissance, no Pope has attracted as much attention to himself and to the Catholic Church as John Paul II. In the quarter century that he has been acting as shepherd for more than a billion people, the rating of the head of all Catholics remains consistently high, and in the USA, John Paul until September 11, 2001 was more popular than George Bush himself. And although the popularity of the Pontiff and the prestige of the Catholic Church as a whole are not exactly the same thing, one cannot but admit the dependence of the latter on the former. After all, it was the activity and policy of the current Pope, even according to the admission of outright atheists, that made the Catholic Church the most modern, flexible and tolerant towards the person of our time. Suffice it to mention the fact that in the 80s of the last century, the Vatican began to widely use all available mass media to promote its ideas, the main of which was the idea of peace through interreligious dialogue.
Self-made Pope
Talk about the need to reform the Catholic Church had been going on since the end of the 15th century, since the time of Savonarola. The overly traditionalist Catholic Church, in the opinion of many, did not correspond to the spirit of the times. But the radical 'aggiornamento' (translated from Latin - 'renewal') of Catholicism began only after the ascension to the Holy See in 1958 of Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council, held from 1962 to 1965. It was then that a course was set for the liberalization of the Roman Catholic Church, primarily toward dialogue between religions and bringing church life closer to secular realities.
Nevertheless, Catholicism met the 1970s not in the best shape. Emptying of churches, universal fascination with Eastern religions and mystical practices among the Catholic flock, seminaries without students, 'confusion and vacillation' in the theological environment, calls for revision of the fundamental dogmas of faith in South America, always considered the stronghold of Catholicism... And on top of that, endless financial scandals in the Vatican itself, associated with a reduction in revenues to the papal treasury and a fantastic growth of debts.
In such an environment, the vicar of Jesus Christ (part of the Pope's title) became Karol Józef Wojtyła. The son of a retired officer and a schoolteacher, he was born in the Polish town of Wadowice on May 18, 1920. He enrolled in 1938 in the Faculty of Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, but the war prevented him from continuing his studies. He worked at a chemical plant, acted in an amateur theater, and even, they say, at one time hesitated what to choose - the church or the stage. But, apparently, his religious upbringing (his parents were devout Catholics) had an effect, and in 1942, 22-year-old Karol entered an underground theological seminary in Kraków. In 1946, he was ordained a priest. After two years spent at universities in Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium, he returned to his homeland, where he became a vicar first in a rural parish and then in Kraków. Alongside this, he taught at the seminary and at the Jagiellonian University; there he received in 1953 a doctorate in moral theology.
The young talented priest was noticed in Rome. In 1958, by appointment of Pope Pius XII, Wojtyła became bishop, and in 1967, Pope Paul VI elevated him to the rank of cardinal.
Smoke over the Apostolic Capital
Residents of Roman districts located near the Vatican can determine whether a new Pope has been elected even before the official announcement. After each vote, the ballots are burned in the courtyard of the Sistine Chapel, and if a candidate for the Roman pontiff has not received the required number of votes in the cardinal conclave (two-thirds plus one), then a special powder is added to the pile of burning ballots, causing the smoke to become deep black. If, however, the conclave has rendered a positive decision, the smoke becomes white. In October 1978, residents of the surrounding area saw a column of black smoke eight times. And only on the ninth time did the smoke become white, like the Pope's vestments.
There are many guesses as to why it was precisely the Pole Wojtyła who was elected. The most common is that the Archbishop of Kraków was considered a provincial from whom no surprises were expected. He did not look like a man capable of breathing new life into the giant, aging organism of the Church. True, there is also another point of view, directly opposite. According to it, the future Pope attracted the conclave precisely with his program of actions aimed at strengthening Catholicism, his skills in resisting both Nazis and communists, his knowledge of Marxism, sociability and pastoral experience, that is, all those qualities that were needed to renew Catholicism. They say even the KGB chief Yuri Andropov immediately appreciated the new pontiff, speaking approximately to the effect that 'we will have big problems with him.' And so it happened. When in the 1980s the anti-Soviet movement in Poland intensified so much that Moscow decided to send in troops, the Pope unambiguously stated that if Soviet tanks entered Warsaw, he would have to return to his homeland so that the tanks would drive over him as well. The troops never appeared in Wojtyła's homeland.
Under John Paul II, for the first time in two centuries, the Vatican gained political weight. Before that, the last significant political event to which the Pope was invited was the Congress of Vienna of 1814-1815. Then for long 163 years, the Roman Catholic primates fell out of political life. Without them, the Treaty of Versailles was concluded in 1919 and the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945.
Under the new pontiff everything changed. In 1984, diplomatic relations with the Vatican were established by Protestant countries that had been "offended" by the Roman Catholic Church since the Reformation. Leaders of world powers began to frequent Rome, and whereas previously visits by heads of state and royalty to the Pope rarely lasted more than 20 minutes, now they turned into substantial conversations that stretched on for hours. And the USSR ambassador to Italy, Nikolai Lunkov, specially visited the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Casaroli, to tell him about the historic decisions of the 19th party conference.
A significant role in strengthening the Vatican's weight on the political arena was also played by John Paul II's love of travel. He did not earn the title of the most well-traveled Pope for nothing. In various states the pontiff stopped more than 200 times in total, and even Fyodor Konyukhov might envy the number of countries he visited. The Pope made considerable efforts to unite Catholics in Southeast Asia, and spoke from the podium in Havana together with Fidel Castro against the trade embargo imposed by the USA on Cuba. Moreover, the Servant of the Servants of God (also part of the title) does not limit himself to visiting only Catholic or Christian shrines. During a visit to Syria he visited the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the fourth most important shrine of Islam. By the way, despite the fact that John Paul himself became a victim of a Muslim fanatic in 1981, when the Turk Ali Agca seriously wounded him in the abdomen during communication with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, the pontiff still actively calls for interreligious dialogue. The Pope was among the representatives of the world elite who opposed the war in Iraq, and his strict position helped, as many political scientists believe, to prevent a new crusade against Islam. And during a visit to Astana in 2001, he called on "Christians and Muslims to pray together earnestly to the One Almighty God that the good of peace might reign on the planet."
As we know, we are not the only ones who pray; saints in heaven also pray for us. As for canonization and beatification, that is, the awarding of the title of blessed, as Catholics call it, John Paul is again among the first here. During his pontificate he proclaimed about 1,800 saints and blessed. Although the Pope's decisions on beatification do not always meet with unambiguous support. For example, considerable controversy was caused by the beatification of 233 martyrs who died during the Spanish Civil War. Opponents of such a decision argued that both warring sides, Communists and Fascists, if they had any relation to religion, it was rather to the devil than to God. But the pontiff's opinion prevailed.
In addition to international activities and the canonization of saints, John Paul II is a record holder in the number of apologies. It is estimated that he asked forgiveness on behalf of the Catholic Church 94 times. The most famous was the message Mea Culpa ("My fault"), which the pontiff delivered in 2000. Then he asked forgiveness from God and people for the actions of the Catholic Church towards heretics and freethinkers, for religious wars, intolerance, and "for the hostility and distrust of many Christians towards Jews." It was thanks to the Pope that the Roman Catholic Church rehabilitated Giordano Bruno, Jan Hus, and Galileo Galilei, and also revised its views on the Inquisition.
Electronic church
Thanks to the pontiff, the Catholic Church has a huge number of internet sites. In 1999, the edict prohibiting the use of the Internet by Catholic monks was lifted, and in 2001 a saint appeared - the patron of the Internet. He became Isidore of Seville, who wrote the first universal encyclopedia in the 7th century. However, it is not limited to the Internet. Books written by the Pope are actively published in many countries. Recently, his two-volume collection, which contains everything that belongs to the pontiff's pen, from sermons and theological essays to poems and plays, was also presented in Russia. The "most important of the arts" also did not stand aside. Along with the release of own films on religious themes, which the Vatican intends to present at various film festivals, the attitude towards secular cinema is gradually softening. Thus, Catholic experts spoke in defense of Harry Potter, stating that they do not see any devilry in this film. The reaction to overtly anti-Catholic films such as "Stigmata" or "Bruce Almighty" also became less harsh.
Alas, many religious scholars, while recognizing the undoubted merits of the Pope, nevertheless come to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is still in crisis. In the spiritual sphere, Catholicism holds on largely due to the Roman high priest. His charisma allows him to adhere to strict principles in internal church life despite the fact that many of them are questioned. Thus, the pontiff unequivocally speaks in favor of celibacy (priestly celibacy), even though this keeps many young people from taking holy orders and, according to some psychologists, may serve as a cause of pedophilia. John Paul is also unequivocally against abortion, the use of condoms, premarital sexual relations, birth control, divorce, and much more. And if the ban on women taking holy orders is rather approved by most of the flock, then the bans in the marital and sexual sphere scare off potential Catholics.
However, this is not the main thing. As long as the pontiff is alive, his charm will attract people; it is not for nothing that the number of Catholics in the world increased from 757 million in 1978 to 1 billion 61 million in 2003. The problem is that, as the Vatican hierarchs themselves believe, and in particular Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most influential structures in the Vatican, "today being a Christian means only belonging to a huge apparatus and to some extent knowing the countless ethical norms or dogmas that make life more difficult. But the genuine spark is no longer able to break through the pile of dust covering it."
Despite the recent statement by the Pope's press secretary that the pontiff feels better, few believe that John Paul will last long. Among the cardinals, the question of who will exchange the red mantle for the white papal vestments is being actively discussed. There are many candidates, but none even remotely resembling the current charismatic pontiff is among them. And when the residents of Rome again see a column of white smoke, who knows whether it will not mean that along with the smoke, hopes for the continuation of the "aggiornamento" of Catholicism are flying away.