Catholics in New Media: 9 Days That Changed the World

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BY Matthew Warner “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? Catholics in New Media is a weekly series highlighting something particularly awesome going on in the Catholic world of new media. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/catholics_in_new_media_9_days_that_changed_the_world/