It’s always seemed to me that one of the surest indictments of the Soviet Union was that, although they had a very clear understanding of their own system and their mission—much, much clearer than our own fuzzy understanding always in continuing approximation of our own—they were never able to translate that into a decent, functioning society.
They certainly knew who their enemies were:
ROME – An Italian parliamentary commission concluded “beyond any reasonable doubt” that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II — a theory long alleged but never proved, according to a draft report made available Thursday.
The commission held that the pope was a danger to the Soviet bloc because of his support for the Solidarity labor movement in his native Poland. Solidarity was the first free trade union in communist eastern Europe.
“This commission believes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla,” said a draft of the commission’s report obtained by The Associated Press.
Wojtyla was John Paul’s Polish name.
The draft has no bearing on any judicial investigations, which have long been closed.
The report also said a photograph shows that a Bulgarian man acquitted of involvement in the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt was in St. Peter’s Square when the pontiff was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca.
