St. John Paul II (1986-1990 A.D.)

More missionary and pastoral visits

John Paul II continued in his missions to the peoples of the world outside of the Vatican city. From 1986-1990 A.D., the following were the places he visited - always witnessing Christ, the Prince of Peace, and the Good Shepherd, to his universal flock:

1986

• Jan 31 - Feb 10: India
• Jul 01 - Jul 08: Colombia and Santa Lucia
• Oct 04 - Oct 07: France (East-Central region)
• Nov 18: Bangladesh, Singapore, Fiji

1987

• Mar 31 - Apr 13: Federal Republic of Germany
• Jun 08 - Jun 14: Poland
• Sep 10 - Sep 21: U.S.A. and Canada

1988

• Mar 07 - May 19: Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru
• Jun 23 - Jun 27: Austria
• Sep 10 - Sep 20: Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland
• Oct 08 - Oct 11: Strasbourg, Metz and Nancy, France

1989

• Apr 28 - May 06: Madagascar, La Reunion, Zambia, and Malawi
• Jun 01 - Jun 10: Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden
• Aug 19 - Aug 21: Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and Asturias
• Oct 06 - Oct 10: Seoul, Korea, Indonesia, and Mauritius

1990

• Jan 25 - Feb 01: Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad
• Apr 21: Czechoslovakia
• May 06 - May 14: Mexico and Curacao
• May 25: Malta
• Sep 01 - Sep 10: Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ivory Coast

The situation in Poland in 1986

By 1986 A.D., the Solidarity leaders were released from jail. Solidarity had formed a coalition with Poland's bishops and its vast network of parishes. This sustained the people's morale and hope. This was the state of affairs in Poland when Pope John Paul II was able to land again in his native country in June 1987 A.D. The Pope addressed a congregation of more than a million faithful near Gdansk, the scene of the shipyard strike that launched the Solidarity movement back in 1980 A.D. He ended his message by saying: "Solidarity means one another, and if there is a burden, then the burden is carried together, in community. Thus: Never one against another. Never one group against another, and never a burden carried by one alone, without the help of others."

The fall of communism

Following the failure of Jaruzelski's national referendum for economic reforms, there were again waves of strikes. But the Soviet Union had a new leader by this time: Gorbachev. Gorbachev had no intention of supporting the falling regimes of Eastern Europe. He focused on fixing the economic and political system of the Soviet Empire. Poland was then left to its fate. After many months, Solidarity finally became legal. Elections took place on June 4, 1989 A.D. All but one of the hundred seats in the Polish Senate, and all the free seats in the parliament, were won by the Solidarity-backed Citizen's Committee. Official diplomatic relations were restored between the Holy See and Poland. The world was then to witness something extraordinary in modern history: the implosion of the Soviet system. Many say that the bloodless collapse of communism had been initiated by the Polish Pope.

A strict conservative

In terms of adhering to the official theology of the Church, the Holy Father published in 1990 A.D., a document titled Ex Corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church). He was seeking to control the academics in Catholic universities and colleges. The document advocated tighter control on "orthodox" teaching and the curbing of pluralist freedoms. As regards this, his attention was then brought to the Catholic academes of the United States. As the Soviet Empire eventually faltered and collapsed, the freedoms that were intrinsic to the culture of the United States, were, in his view, tending towards error, and thus, became an increasing focus of his attention for correction.

John Paul II gathers the world to pray for peace

Despite the problems he had to resolve in his native Poland, and the fall of communism, and the responsibility to keep theology on the right track, Pope John Paul was successful in his universal role as peacemaker. On October 27, 1986 A.D., he attended the First World Day of Prayer for Peace which he convened in Assisi with some 60 representatives of the main Christian and non-Christian religions. The World Day of Prayer was a daylong affair in the piazza at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Prominent among the religious leaders present were: the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, leader of the Church of England; the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader from Tibet (exiled from his country since 1959 A.D.); Mother Teresa (now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta), the Albanian nun who ministers to the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India; Elio Toaff, chief rabbi of Rome; and many others.

The Pope's message was: "Peace, where it exists, is always extremely fragile...we must endeavour to provide it with secure foundations...we are here because we are sure that, above and beyond all such measures, we need prayer...if the world is finally to become a place of true and permanent peace."

His 1986-1990 A.D. pontificate

The Holy Father ends his last year of his 1986-1990 A.D. pontificate with the following highlights:

• five pastoral visits to countries outside of Italy
• the exchange of representatives between the Holy See and the Soviet Union (March 15, 1990 A.D.)
• the official visit of President Mario Soares of Portugal (April 27, 1990 A.D.)
• the Eighth General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Formation of Priests (Sept 30 - Oct 28, 1990 A.D.)
• and in his "Urbi et Orbi" message, the Pope appeals for peace in the Persian Gulf (December 25)