Visione messianica e realismo della storia in Giovanni Paolo II

Abstract

Paweł Rojek in his Liturgia dziejów [Liturgy of History] rightly pointed the importance of Polish messianism for the understanding of John Paul II. It is especially convincing when one consider the early poetry of the future Pope, the testimony of his personal secretary sister Emilia Ehrlich, and the importance of suffering, both in theological reflexion, and personal life of John Paul II. Nevertheless, papal messianism was a very special kind. First, the concept of nation, adopted by John Paul II, did not exclude the universal dimension of humanity. The pope applied the principles of his theology of nation not only for Poland, but also for many others nations, and in many occasions prised the multinational political formations. Secondly, for him, the missions of nations were connected rather with martyrdom than historical victories. Most importantly, John Paul II united the messianistic vision with a very realistic approach to the history. In result, his ideas turned out to be a fatal threat for communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The Solidarity movement in Poland, inspired by John Paul II, might be seen as an attempt of realisation of this specific messianistic vision.