Destroying an 'Evil Empire'

My review of Paul Kengor's book "A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century" can be read on The University Bookman (The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal): "The twentieth century was a bloody century characterized by upheaval, loss of lives, and political tensions. Paul Kengor, professor of political science at Grove City College, opens this remarkable book by taking a cue from two events that took place in 1917—the Marian apparitions at Fatima in Portugal and the Russian October Revolution.

A century removed from these events, it is pertinent to look at the backdrop they provide to the twentieth century and the lives of two of its leading persons—Ronald Reagan and Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II.

The author argues that one cannot ignore the apparitions at Fatima, regardless of what one believes, since both Reagan and Wojtyla believed there was some divine force underlying important political and historical developments. In particular, Pope John Paul II “connected the appearance of the Virgin Mary at Fatima to his attempted assassination and to the crimes of communism.”" Read the full review here.