Pope Saint John Paul II: Slav, and Pole

 Pope Saint John Paul II was not simply Polish.  Polish was the merely the “species” if you will to which he belonged; the “genus” of his heritage was Slavic.  As such, he was not merely well prepared for the implementation of the Second Vatican Council by the cultural diversity found and enjoyed by Poland; he approached the Chair of Peter and the task at hand equipped with the historical and contextual preparation of having been a descendant of those originally hearing the Gospel from Cyril and Methodius.  

Particularly, Poland presented a son who was well prepared for the mission of the New Evangelization.  As we have seen, the Soviet Union was not prepared for a young, passionate Leader of the Church who could unite nations simply because he spoke and understood local language and culture.  Poland has been a nation who truly saw the beauty of a Church breathing with both the lungs of the Eastern and Western Rites; as a result JPII was keenly aware and aided in the deescalation of tensions between the two Churches, both the schismatic and those in communion with Rome.  

His own personal skill was aided and supported by a deeply seated inclination towards Evangelization in the lives of the evangelized through the historical context of Cyril and Methodius.  The brothers truly brought the Gospel to the lives of the Slavs.  Rather that holding the Faith above their heads and requiring the people to learn foreign languages and customs these saints helped the people with their own language, giving them an avenue in which they could rise to meet the coming of the Gospel themselves.  With this background, it is no wonder that JPII was such a humanist in his Christian writing and preaching.

We have said many times that it mattered that JPII was a Pole.  I would add to this that it mattered first that he was a Slav first, no less important than the particular Poland.