(Information from His Holiness John Paul II and the Hidden History of our Time by Carl Bernstein & Marco Politi, 1996)

On Monday, October 16, 1978, Karol Wojtyla, the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, Poland is elected Bishop of Rome. He accepts and takes the name of John Paul II. The streets of Warsaw, fill with jubilant people. With church bells ringing they go to pray and light candles. The Polish Communist Politburo meets after dark in the fortress of the Central Committee very concerned with what is going to happen.

On the following Sunday John Paul celebrates his Inauguration Mass in Saint Peter's square and immediately challenges the world. The Polish Bishops postpone all the Sunday morning masses so that the people can see and hear their countryman the former Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow.

"Brothers and sisters, don't be afraid to welcome Christ and to accept his power. Help the pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and, with the power of Christ, to serve man and the whole human race…Be not afraid! Open up, no, swing wide the gates to Christ. Open up to his saving power the confines of the state, open up economic and political systems, the vast empires of culture, civilization, and development. Be not afraid!"

On November 5, 1978, the new pope travels to Assisi. After a prayer to Saint Francis, someone from the crowd shouts, "Don't forget the Church of Silence." He replies, "It's not a Church of Silence anymore because it speaks with my voice."

In less than two years on August 14, 1980, Lech Walesa makes demands of the Communist. Solidarity, the Trade Union, becomes a power. On TV the Pope sees Walesa and his workers praying and says, "Walesa had been sent by God, by Providence."

In early December 1980, President Carter and President Elect Ronald Reagan warn the Russians not to invade Poland. Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Advisor, telephones the Pope, telling him that the Russians have a massive build up of troops along the Polish boarder.

On January, 20, 1981, Ronald Reagan is Inaugurated President and retains Brzezinski as his Security Advisor. He wants to keep in close contact with the Pope. He uses William Casey and William Clark. He sees the Pope and Poland as the key to destroying the "Evil Empire".

On February 23, 1981, the Pope writes to Leonid Brezhnev warning him not to invade Poland or he will personally stand between the two armies.

On March 30, 1981, Reagan speaks to the AFL-CIO. He salutes the Polish workers saying "the people will always prevail" A few minutes later he is shot and nearly dies. Six weeks later on May 13, 1981, the Pope is shot and nearly dies. Both suffer serious relapse but survive.

On December 13, 1981, under constant pressure from the Russians, the Communist Government of Poland declares martial law. The U.S. imposes sanctions and continues to quietly support Solidarity.

On June 7, 1982, Reagan visits the Pope and suggests that God saved their lives and must have some special task in mind for them. The Pope agrees and they become even closer.

BEGINNING OF THE END

On February 27, 1985, four years and three months after martial law is declared in Poland, Andrei Gromyko visits the Pope and suggests that the USSR might be interested in establishing Diplomatic Relations with the Vatican. Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Secretary General of the Communist Party and Jaruzelski, the Polish leader, is able to reduce the oppression of martial law in Poland. On June 4, 1989 Solidarity wins all but one of 262 seats. The reverberations of the fall of Poland from the Communist bloc shake the Eastern block, until there is no bloc left. Germans begin to flee East Germany and Gorbachev refuses to intervene.

In November East Germany falls; then Bulgaria falls; then Czechoslovakia; Romania falls in 1989; in August of 1991 the Red Empire goes into its death throes and Russia falls December 25, 1991.