John Paul: And the Wall Came Tumbling Down

The Corriere della Sera, one of Italy's two biggest dailies, reports documents uincovered by the German government in the Stasi files prove the Soviets were behind the assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981. Apparently, they gave the job to Bulgarian Security, who recruited Turks to actually do the deed. The communications were routed through East German security to cover the traces.

Back when the wall fell, the Bishop of Ottawa spoke to a group I was attending. He had just returned from a conclave in Europe. He claimed that John Paul had been crucial in causing the Berlin Wall to fall. I doubted him then. It turns out he was exactly right. John Paul was an enormous threat to the Soviets, and they knew it.