THE late Pope John Paul II generated such fear within the Soviet Bloc that spies were ordered to
gain information on everything from his underwear to his favourite food.
The revelation came as a major University College Cork (UCC)
conference on the only Polish-born pontiff heard that he ranked his
1979 visit to Ireland as one of the most moving moments of his papacy.
Karol
Wojtyla, who died in 2005 aged 84, remains the only pontiff to have
visited Ireland, despite the country boasting one of the world's highest
per capita Catholic populations.
Krakow Institute of National
Remembrance director, Dr Marek Lasota, said that the future pope was
identified as a problem for the Communist authorities as early as 12
months after the end of World War II.
Desperate
efforts were made to obtain information on his life, and the lives of
other prominent Polish church figures, in a bid to blackmail them into
silence or inactivity regarding the regime.
"There was political
pressure on the clergy. There were priests which infiltrated the Polish
Church. It was a complex situation," Dr Lasota said.
SURVEILLANCE
But
despite the best efforts of the Warsaw spy chiefs, the future pope was
found to be impossible to blackmail, as he lived such a transparent and
dedicated lifestyle.
Dr Lasota said it was ironic that the Communist
regime identified Karol Wojtyla's talents – and the threat he posed to
them – years before the church fast-tracked his elevation.
By the time he was appointed a cardinal in 1967, the future Pope John Paul II had been under surveillance by Polish Communist spies for more than 20 years.
Elected
pope in 1978, he is widely credited for having played a crucial role in
helping dismantle the Soviet Bloc and is revered in Poland for the
support he gave the trade union, Solidarity, in its battle against totalitarianism.
The Warsaw regime wanted every aspect of his life monitored and analysed.
Dr
Lasota described the kind of information the regime wanted to find out.
"For example, what cosmetics does Karol Wojtyla like? When does he
shave? Who provides his meals? Who does his laundry? Does he play
cards?"