Denver Catholic

18 AUGUST 10-23, 2019 | DENVER CATHOLIC Perspectives F orty years after Pope John Paul II bent the course of the 20th century in a more humane direction during his fi rst pilgrimage to his Polish homeland in June 1979, new infor- mation continues to emerge about what happened behind the scenes, shedding further light on those epic events. The latest surprise involves a hitherto unre- marked (and evidently impromptu) meeting of the Polish episcopate with the Polish pope in the middle of what's become known as the "Nine Days." Polish scholars recently dis- covered and published a transcript of that encounter, and kindly shared a translation with me while I was teaching in Cracow last month. A bit of background helps set the scene for a powerful reminder that what may seem mere coincidence or randomness can, in fact, be providen- tial — and instructive for the present. Warsaw, Poland's political capital from 1596 until the Third Polish Par- tition in 1795, erased "Poland" from the map of Europe, and was absorbed into the Russian Empire after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The Rus- sian authorities immediately began an intense and often brutal program of Russifi cation, which included ban- ning the use of the Polish language in public administration and the courts. One physical expression of this deter- mination to eradicate Polishness in Warsaw was the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in city center on Saxon Square between 1894 and 1912. Speaking at Warsaw's Royal Castle, the Russian czar had told Poles to abandon all hope of recovering their independence, and the new Russian Orthodox mega-church — with a bell tower designed to be the high- est point in the city — was meant to underscore this brutal diktat. At the cathedral's dedication in 1912, the local Russian Orthodox archbishop said that "The creators of this cathe- dral had nothing hostile in their thoughts towards the unorthodoxy that surrounds us: coercion is not in the nature of the Eastern Orthodox Church." This was, of course, pop- pycock. The Nevsky Cathedral was nothing but a hostile politico-na- tionalistic act; the Russian Orthodox Church had long been an instrument of Russian state power; and, as Arch- bishop Nicholas himself admitted (however clumsily), the cathedral was intended to juxtapose Russian Orthodoxy to the "unorthodoxy" of recalcitrant Poles who clung to their heretical Catholicism. In the aftermath of Poland regain- ing its independence in 1918, the Nevsky Cathedral was demolished, to restore a great public space while removing an aˆ ront to Polish sen- sibilities. After Hitler destroyed Warsaw in 1944, Saxon Square was recreated in the rebuilt capital, although Poland's communist over- seers renamed it "Victory Square." And it was there, on June 2, 1979, that John Paul II celebrated Mass before hundreds of thousands of Poles and famously called on the Holy Spirit to "renew the face of the earth….of this land." It was an electric rhetor- ical moment with consequences as great as Winston Churchill's 1940 declaration, "…we shall never surren- der!" And its providential character was identifi ed in poignant remarks by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the heroic Primate of Poland, when John Paul met with the Polish bishops on June 5, 1979. "I was raised in Warsaw schools," the Primate recalled. "I know Warsaw from before World War I….In the exact spot where the Holy Father stood was the apse of a huge czarist church, placed there on orders of the czar, to serve as the ultimate defa- mation of Poland and the [Catholic] Church… So the Holy Mass [in Vic- tory Square] was a huge experience for me, a huge shock, because I was sitting in the very same spot where once had stood that czarist church and I was looking at the Pope cele- brating the Holy Mass where the… main ceremonies of the czarist power were once celebrated; and every- thing [in my memory] disappeared [ because] the Pope was celebrating a Mass in that exact spot…" Like many others, I've been thrilled by that epic moment as cap- tured in fi lms and documentaries, but I had missed the extraordinary, provi- dential coincidence: John Paul's great Victory Square homily took place precisely where a simulacrum of piety had been built to underscore the religious subjugation of a people and their alleged "unorthodoxy." God is not without a sense of ironic humor, it seems (although this particular exercise in the divine irony may not be well-appreciated in Vatican circles where the memory of Russian Ortho- doxy's historic aggressiveness toward "unorthodox" Catholicism seems to have been erased). Catholics may, and indeed must, forgive. But we should also remem- ber. Because forgetfulness can lead to something worse: like a dangerous falsifi cati on of reality. C atholic literacy has been in steady decline. A recent Pew poll revealed that only 50% of Catholics know that the Church teaches that Jesus is truly pres- ent in the Eucharist. Many Cath- olics do not know the basics of their faith, let alone the Church's rich historical and cultural legacy. A new series, focused on What Every Cath- olic Should Know, seeks to address this decline. The fi rst two volumes, just released, have been written by Joseph Pearce, his volume focused on literature, and Michael Barber, who addresses the central theological issue of salvation. The series is pub- lished jointly by the Augustine Insti- tute and Ignatius Press. In Salvation: What Every Catholic Should Know, Barber helps Catholics address questions and objections posed by other Christians, such as, "Are you saved?" For Catholics it's not a simple "yes" or "no" answer, as we should say that we have been saved in baptism, are being saved as we grow in God's grace, and will be saved fi nally and completely when we reach the happiness of heaven (104). Cath- olics are often perplexed by the "faith and works" debate. Barber handles this issue with dexterity, helping us to see how faith helps us to enter into a saving relationship with God. His explanations draw deeply upon the Bible, showing us how the Church fol- lows the entire witness of the Bible, not simply some passages taken out of context. For instance, Barber explains how in the Bible faith "means more than just holding a particular belief. 'Faith' involves submitting to God's will in trust ... For Paul, true faith is ultimately sharing in the life-giving sacrifi cial love of Christ" (108). The Church teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our own eˆ orts, but also that we must coop- erate with grace and that "God will judge each person according to his deeds" (85). Barber also points out how salvation cannot be conceived individualistically, because "believers are not saved apart from one another, but through being united to the 'whole Christ," namely, his body, the Church" (59). He also shows us how justifi cation, being made just, cannot be reduced simply to the juridical, The Catholic Di‹ erence George Weigel is a distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. GEORGE WEIGEL Extraordinary coincidence, contemporary lesson What every Catholic should know The Catholic Reader R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is a husband and father of six, the director of formation for the Archdiocese of Denver, a Benedictine oblate, prolifi c writer, and insatiable reader. DR. R. JARED STAUDT

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