“The nine days of John Paul II in June 1979, were nine days on which the history of the 20th century turned in a dramatic way.” - George Weigel
Newt Gingrich, a student of history and recent convert to Catholicism, and his wife are coming out with a new documentary on John Paul II and his influence on the Cold War. It is called Nine Days that Changed the World.
“Nine Days that Changed the World is a powerful story of freedom through faith. This groundbreaking film recounts Pope John Paul II’s historic nine-day trip to Poland in June of 1979, and reveals why this visit was the turning point for defeating Communism in Eastern Europe.
During these nine days, Pope John Paul II reminded the Polish people that nothing – not even the seemingly all-powerful Communist state – could stand between them and God. The Pope sparked a revolution of conscience in the Polish people that led to the success of Solidarity’s free-trade union movement, and ultimately the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union.” [source]
Here is the trailer:
If Reagan was for “peace through strength,” John Paul II was for “peace through faith.” I hope to see the documentary sometime soon. It premiered in April this year and you can find a schedule of future screenings and ways to support the project on the website.
Also, here (below) is a good interview of Newt and Callista (his wife) by Mike Huckabee about this new documentary. I particularly liked something Callista said toward the end regarding a core message of Pope John Paul II at that time. And that is that there is no state or government that can stand between us and God. And that true freedom only comes through our faith in Jesus Christ. Inspiring stuff!
It’s encouraging to see an intellectual heavyweight like Newt Gingrich go through such a conversion to the Catholic faith and then to see the fruits of it in projects like this one. Have any of you seen this documentary? What did you think?
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I actually saw this documentary a couple of weeks ago when Newt and Callista debuted it in Washington D.C. It was very well-done. Half of it revolved around those nine days, and half was a biography of Pope John Paul II in general.
It is really is fascinating to see how this modern Saint ignited the downfall of global communism. As he counseled his followers, he was not afraid. And much of Europe is better off because of his courage.
I hope and pray that Governor Huckabee will be willing to see Catholicism in a positive light as a result of stories like this. We should pray he comes home to the Church.
I like this documentary as it demonstrates the merits of John Paul II and Reagan in bringing down the communist rule over millions of people.
I also remember very clearly, how John Paul II was desperately pleading for peace after 9/11 when the Bush administration was selling a long prepared war against the Iraqi people based on lies (WMDs etc) and false accustaions (Iraq´s involvement in 9/11). And I still rememeber how many prominent American catholics like George Weigel told the pope to shut up rambling on about a “just war”. Millions of Christians in the muslim world had to pay the price for not listenig to the Holy Father and in some countries the Christian religion, dating back to the first centuries, has almost become extinguished since. John Paul II exactly prediced what would happen. I never heard an excuse of those “faithful” Catholics.
New Gingrich also voted ardently for going to war at that time, and I wonder if he would have the courage to resist today and listen to the Church´s teaching instead of doing the dirty business of the oil and war industry, just for profit.
I have seen this documentary twice now. Last night a group of us got together to view it. We discussed it afterwards and all were so impressed with it that we are planning to watch the Gingrich’s other video “God in America” which is about the faith of the Founding Fathers.
Today at Mass, the Deacon preached about helping the poor and having compassion for immigrants. I agree, but we need to have a policy where we can give illegal immigrants here a documented work permit that allows people to work here. Along with that previledge, they have the responsibility to pay state, city, and federal taxes. Employers must pay for worker’s comp and pay these workers min. wages. We can address the illegal issues later, but we must make certain that all have the right to live peacefully and the right to have a fair wage. Many religious have their lofty goals preached but they fail to give realistic methods to help. Let’s get our congressmen and women to start addressing this serious problem.
Mary Weilan writes that “New Gingrich also voted ardently for going to war at that time, and I wonder if he would have the courage to resist today and listen to the Church´s teaching instead of doing the dirty business of the oil and war industry, just for profit.” While I have not particular brief for Gingrich, this is untrue. He resigned from Congress in 1998 and has not held elected office since. He may or may not have supported the Iraq War (I don’t know), but the statement posted above is untrue. I welcome former speaker Gingrich into the Church whatever his past views and actions.
I apologize for the typos in my post. I am still learning this new laptop keyboard.
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