An almost “Holy Alliance”: the United States and the Holy See during the years of Reagan and John Paul II

di Andrea Di Stefano
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 44 (2013), p. 179

Ronald Reagan and Karol Wojtyła were among the undisputed protagonists of the 1980s. Their political relations led to several speculations. The most known example is that explains the collapse of the Soviet regime through a ‘secret and holy’ alliance between the American President and the Polish Pope. The author discusses and refuses such an argument. He asserts that the rapport between the United States and the Holy See was based on a common view and an extraordinary convergence of strategic interests. The need to offer an answer to the evolution of the international framework produced, among the other consequences, a diplomatic rapprochement that ended with the institution of official relations between the United States and the Holy See in 1984. The author describes the historical phases of this process of mutual understanding and recognition; a process which is one of the least analysed aspects of relations between the Old and the New World. Keywords: Ronald Reagan, U.S. diplomatic relations; John Paul II; Holy See diplomatic relations; Catholic Church; Cold War