“Ostpolitik” of John Paul II as a new type of politics in relation to non-democratic regimes: history of formation
Abstract
The history of forming the totally new politicy by John Paul II makes up the content of the article. This politicy is oriented towards non-democratic regimes and it has changed the regional “eastern policy of Vatican” into a global one. The basis of the article is constituted by the two texts, i.e. a newly discovered text of the speech (for a restricted audience) of John Paul II addressed to the Main Council of the Episcopate of Poland (05.06.1979) and the text of the Pope’s public sermon in the Cathedral in Gniezno (03.06.1979). We also used memoirs about private conversations of the Pope with statesmen and public fi gures about the liberation theology. The article draws attention to the coordination of the politics of John Paul II in relation to the countries of Eastern Europe with his politics in Latin America. Without refusing to maintain diplomatic contacts with non-democratic regimes, the Pope shifted the focus of his policy to strengthening the positions of national episcopates and activating the spiritual life of believers in these countries. To this end, John Paul II made extensive use of pastoral messages, pastoral visits, and the media. In terms of the formation of his policy, the most influential were three trips of the new Pope: to Mexico, to Poland, and to the USA. All of them took place in 1979.
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