The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War by Paul Kengor and Robert Orlando (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War by Paul Kengor and Robert Orlando Richard A. Spinello The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War. By Paul Kengor and Robert Orlando. (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books. 2019. Pp. 221. $19.21. ISBN: 9781610171540.) When John Paul II was elected to the papacy in 1978, no one quite knew what to expect. This Polish Pope, the "man from a far country," as he called himself, was not well known outside the Catholic Church. The media were initially fascinated with him but only because he was a non-Italian pope. Some pundits predicted the beginning of liberal reforms in the Church, but they were obviously unfamiliar with John Paul II's writings or his reputation for theological orthodoxy. Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, an ethics professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, was a resolute defender of Humanae Vitae along with the traditional principles of Catholic morality. No one, however, would have predicted that this philosopher-pope would be instrumental in ending the protracted cold war and dissolving the Soviet Union. The Divine Plan explores the consequential alliance between Pope John Paul II and Ronald Reagan who joined forces in this noble effort. The book is based on a documentary of the same name, and is structured as a play in five acts with these two major actors. The book's basic premise is that Divine Providence brought these two leaders together on the world stage so that they could rescue the world from communism. [End Page 388] Secular historians will not find this argument persuasive, but it will surely resonate with Catholic historians. What might be surprising for the latter group is that Ronald Regan saw himself as a "tool of God" for this memorable undertaking. The Divine Plan devotes several instructive chapters to reviewing the symmetries between the lives of these two men. Both survived an assassination attempt within two months of each other. And both believed that they were spared by Divine Providence for a transcendent purpose. John Paul II was convinced that Our Lady of Fatima intervened to save his life. As he confided in an interview shortly before his death: this professional assassin certainly shot to kill, "yet it was as if someone was guiding and deflecting that bullet." There are other interesting parallels as well. Both men were actors—Reagan, of course, was a professional actor before he entered politics, and Wojtyla loved the stage as a young student. They shared similar political philosophies, with strong convictions about the "ideologies of evil," including communism. And these "kindred spirits" were known for their constructive optimism despite the traumas and challenges they encountered on their road to the world stage. But how precisely did President Regan and John Paul II cooperate with each other in this common purpose? Reagan vigorously supported Poland's Solidarity Movement, calling for an end to the marital law that had been imposed on this "martyred nation" in the early 1980's. The partnership between President Reagan and John Paul II also included the exchange of classified intelligence. When Mikhail Gorbachev assumed power with promises of glasnost and perestroika, John Paul II and President Reagan seized the opportunity to convince him to unravel the oppressive Soviet system. The Divine Plan is a gripping historical account of these events, even though we all know how the story will end. The book's provocative thesis about the role of divine providence in the flow of historical events is well worth pondering. As John Paul II often said, "In the designs of Providence there are no mere coincidences." In Hegel's Vernunft in Geschichte, where history is defined as the manifestation of the Absolute Spirit, the author refers to the "cunning of reason" (List der Vernunft). While history is not determined in any direction, it is possible to speak about the cunning of providence that coalesces with the free will of heroic men like John Paul II and Ronald Reagan. Richard A. Spinello Boston College Richard A. Spinello Boston College Copyright © 2023 The Catholic University of America Press