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When Pope Paul's successor, John Paul I, died after only 33 days in office, the Cardinals' second conclave of 1978 produced a surprising choice for the papacy: Poland's Karol Wojtyla, who took the name John Paul II. He was something new to the church. A onetime actor and factory hand who had dated women before discovering his priestly vocation, he wrote poetry and loved skiing and folk singing. Above all, he had the presence of a religious superstar, and his magnetism attracted not only Catholics but millions who did not share his faith.
To be sure, some Catholics were quick to notice limitations. Although the Pope comes from bourgeois stock, he is, says Chicago Sociologist William McCready, something of a "peasant intellectual Pope. He understands the life of a peasant, whether in the Third World countries or European countries like Poland. But he doesn't understand urbanized, pluralistic societies." Sister Amelie Starkey, an archdiocesan official in Denver, says that the Pope's Polish anti-Communism gives him a "horrendous bias."
Within John Paul, there is unquestionably a fierce, determined belief in the lessons learned from his early life. During the days of Hitler and the Stalinists, the young Polish priest concluded that the church is strong only when individualism makes way for the requirements of unity. Indeed, Catholicism has thrived in Poland as in few other places, making its church both inspiring and atypical.
Early in his pontificate, a new Vatican strategy took shape. Unlike the cautious, introspective Paul VI, John Paul decided to strengthen his authority over his flock, and he was unafraid to apply punitive sanctions when necessary. He laid out crystal-clear lines. The ordination of women was beyond discussion. Priests and nuns must get out of political office. Religious orders must regain lost discipline. Bishops were expected to uphold Rome's policies. Meanwhile, a re-energized Curia began questioning theologians who strayed too far from official teaching. Disillusionment has been building ever since among progressive Catholics who want a more flexible church. Swiss Theologian Father Hans Kung, an early target of the papal crackdown, charges that "a new phase of Inquisition" has begun. Says Kung: "The present Pope suppresses problems instead of solving them." One renowned U.S. commentator on the Vatican, Redemptorist Father Francis X. Murphy, pronounces this Pope "very dictatorial." Some Protestant ecumenists say the papacy does not look as attractive as it used to in the decade or so after Vatican II.
On the other end of the ideological spectrum, however, there is celebration. James McFadden, editor of New York's scrappy, right-wing Catholic Eye, says that under Pope Paul VI "the realization that the leadership wasn't there led many conservative Catholics not to give up, but to cease fighting. These people have been reinvigorated by this Pope. They believe that something can be done." Encouraged by the new signals emanating from the Pope, conservative Catholics have flooded the Vatican with letters of complaint about all manner of alleged infractions by U.S. bishops, priests and sisters.