By Rudolf Gehrig

Rome press room, November 9, 2024 / 11:00 a.m.

As Germany marks the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall this year, key witnesses highlight the crucial role played by St. John Paul II in the peaceful revolution that transformed Europe.

“I am absolutely convinced that without Pope John Paul II, German reunification would not have been possible,” Martin Rothweiler, director of EWTN Germany, told CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner .

Rothweiler was in Rome on the historic night of November 9, 1989, when East German citizens began freely crossing the Berlin Wall for the first time in nearly three decades.

“It seemed surreal,” Rothweiler recalls. “Seeing people climbing the wall, seeing the masses pouring from East Berlin to West Berlin – it was just incredible. We had grown up accepting the division as immutable: the Eastern Bloc, the West, the Warsaw Pact on one side, NATO on the other. Everything seemed set in stone – literally.

The late Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne, who died in 2017 and a close friend of John Paul II, offered similar testimony in a 2016 interview with EWTN: “Without him, there would have been no Solidarity movement in Poland . I seriously doubt that communism would have fallen without John Paul II. His contribution to the collapse of communism cannot be overstated.”

The mission of a pope

Even after becoming pope in 1978, John Paul II continued to support opposition movements behind the Iron Curtain. After surviving an assassination attempt in 1981 – widely believed to have been orchestrated by Soviet bloc security services – he decided to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, responding to a request made by Our Lady of Fátima .

Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, who served as John Paul II’s personal secretary for decades, highlighted the spiritual dimension of these historic events. In an interview with EWTN in 2016, he explained: “From the moment of this consecration, a process began which resulted in the freedom of nations oppressed by communism and Marxism. Our Lady had both requested this consecration and promised that freedom would follow.

“After this event, the world became different,” Dziwisz added. “It was not only the Iron Curtain that fell, but also Marxism in the world, which was particularly rooted in universities and circles around the world. »

Witness to history

The impact of John Paul II’s role has been recognized even by secular leaders. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl recalled a defining moment from the pope’s visit to reunified Berlin in 1996. As he passed through the Brandenburg Gate – once a symbol of division – the pope turned to Kohl and said: “Mr. Chancellor, this is a profound moment in my life. That I, the Polish Pope, stand here with you, the German Chancellor, at the Brandenburg Gate – and that the gate is open, that the wall is gone, that Berlin and Germany are united and that Poland is free .”

Perhaps the most striking testimony came from an unexpected source: Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who recognized that without the influence of John Paul II, the peaceful revolution of 1989 would not have happened. perhaps never happened.

Today’s echoes

The legacy of these events resonates today as Europe once again faces conflict. On March 25, 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis chose to renew John Paul II’s consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“We have strayed from the path of peace,” Francis said during the ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica. “We have forgotten the lessons of the tragedies of the last century and the sacrifice of millions of people who fell in the world wars. »

As the war continues in Ukraine two years later, the example of John Paul II serves as a reminder that transformative change often comes unexpectedly. The Polish pope, canonized by Francis in 2014, demonstrated throughout his life that faith and peaceful resistance could overcome seemingly immovable obstacles, even walls that divided nations.

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Historical context

From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall was the most visible symbol of the division of Europe during the Cold War. The East German communist regime called it the “bulwark of anti-fascist protection,” but to most of the world it represented the Iron Curtain that Winston Churchill had warned against.

More than 100 people died trying to cross from East to West Berlin before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.

Rothweiler, who later introduced EWTN to Germany in 2000, believes John Paul II’s influence continues today through Catholic media. “His legacy reminds us that spiritual power can transform political realities,” he told CNA Deutsch.

“The fall of the Berlin Wall was not just about politics: it was about the triumph of human dignity and faith over oppression.”

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. It was translated and adapted by CNA.