The world changed fundamentally in that dozen years…it did so because of the efforts of two or three exceptional human beings

Former Ambassador Shakespeare talks on John Paul II and the Reagan Years - April 7, 2006

Habló sobre Juan Pablo II y su rol en la historia He spoke about John Paul II and his historic role Er sprach über Johannes Paul II und seine geschichtliche Rolle Foto: Editorial Patris Argentina © 2006
Durante la conferencia During the conference Beim Vortrag Foto: Jentz © 2006

USA, Christi Jentz. Former United States Ambassador to the Vatican, Frank Shakespeare, was warmly welcomed by the Schoenstatt Heights community in Madison, Wisconsin. He was there to present a commemorative speech dedicated to the memory of John Paul II. "The Blessed Mother wants to enter in Madison as the great leader, as the great educator for the United States. She wants to assist us in fulfilling our great mission", explained Father Kentenich. Is it any wonder that the former Ambassador has been drawn to the Founder Shrine? "He embodies the best of our nation’s leadership and our MTA is pleased to greet him when he visits her", thus the conviction of the Schoenstatt Family.

A highly accomplished broadcast executive in his early career, Shakespeare served as president of CBS Television and RKO General, Inc. President Nixon then asked him to join his administration and oversee the United States Information Agency. Later, Shakespeare chaired the International Broadcasting Bureau, which included broadcast elements such as the Voice of America. In the 1980s, he served as chair of The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.'s premiere conservative think-tank. He also oversaw the efforts of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, supervising inspirational transmissions to the freedom-seeking people of the then-Soviet Union and its Eastern European block. It was in this capacity that Ambassador Shakespeare served as a front-line warrior in the Cold War and played a part in the eventual downfall of the Soviet Communist system. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan called on Mr. Shakespeare to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal. Not longer after, he was given the high honor of serving until 1989 as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See; only the second American to hold that post after President Reagan opened official diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

Not issues, but the essence

The style Ambassador Shakespeare used to deliver his speech was informal. Never once did he step behind the podium. In fact, he strolled across the floor in a comfortable manner without using as script. The audience sat silent as he unfolded the tale of two great men, Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan.

It was his intention, he explained, to share not issues with the audience but the essence of the individuals he was remembering. "These were men that came on the scene at a critical time in history", and that is what he wanted to present. He suggested we look to historians and scholars if we want to discuss the issues of that time; his intention was to give us insights about these men as he was able to witness through his work as the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. In his humble opinion the role he played in these years was almost like a bystander and the events of those years left him awestruck. "I am a business person" he stated, "but by an accident of life it fell that I was able to represent President Reagan". It turned out to be a pivotal time in history, a time he will never forget.

Did we realize we were witnesses of a historical landmark?

The Ambassador opened the story with a brief history of the western world as it had developed in the 20th century. He talked of the escalation of Soviet power and how it brought death, damage and military horror that had cursed man well into the last part of the century. "In the world of 1978 there existed a profoundly evil tyranny with a serious intent to eliminate Western civilization". But this all came to an end in such a way that no one was predicting in the late 70’s and, in retrospect, it happened so quickly, he added. "The world changed fundamentally in that dozen years…it did so because of the efforts of two or three exceptional human beings".

The election and first years of the pontificate of John Paul II and the first year of the presidency of Ronald Reagan are noteworthy according to Shakespeare.

Pope John Paul II

The Italian Popes had reigned for 450 years. After the death of Pope Paul VI in 1978, it was presumed that the conclave would choose a pope from a short list of maybe four or five of the most eligible Italian cardinals and this is exactly what they did. Pope John Paul I was the Cardinal and Archbishop of Venice. He died after serving only 33 days. This time, when the cardinals were called back to Rome, it was a very different setting. "It changed them for the second conclave…they wondered ‘what is God trying to tell us’. The result was a stunning. Men of tradition broke tradition and chose a Polish-Slovakian. The world and the Soviet Union were stunned!"

Pope John Paul II knew communism. He knew street communism. His genealogy was made up of very strong, tough people. Shortly after his election, the Pope traveled to Poland and "the Poles who had been mistreated for centuries go crazy. All of Central Europe is in ferment, how do we handle this?"

President Ronald Reagan

"In 1980", continues Shakespeare, "the greatest spiritual force on earth has John Paul II and the greatest temporal force elects Reagan. It was quite extraordinary that we elected a grade B movie actor, however he was a very unusual person". Early in the Reagan presidency, on March 30^th, 1981, Reagan is shot… "He knows if the bullet goes 1/8 inch differently, he’s a dead man". After that, "There was a profound transformation in his thoughts." Reagan, who was not a Catholic, wanted to talk with a prelate, and his aid, Michael Deaver, arranges to fly Cardinal Cook of New York in to see him on Holy Saturday. During this time period, Deaver heard Reagan say, "I don’t know what it all means but I know now that whatever time I have left belongs to him (God)."

What else could happen? On May 13,1981, the Pope is shot. Once again, "he knows if the bullet goes 1/8 inch differently, he’s a dead man." The Pope is heard to mumble that the Madonna saved his life. In the hospital he studies Fatima.

The Pope and Reagan

Shakespeare believes these parallel events are no coincidence. Reagan goes on to develop a new policy that would put an end the Soviet Union. He meets with Pope John Paul II - one on one. No one is invited to listen in on those meetings. At one point, Shakespeare tells the audience, he is sitting with President Reagan after the President and Nancy Reagan had finished their visit to the Vatican. While there, Reagan had a private meeting with the Pope. Nancy was now changing into appropriate attire for another event, and this gave Shakespeare time to ask the President if there was anything he should know about the meeting that would help him serve the country better. The President talked with him for 20 minutes about his meeting with the Pope. At the end of the conversation, Shakespeare asks the President if he can make a suggestion, "I don’t want to report this back", he says to the President, "then you’ll control 100% (of the information)". The President replied "well that’s fine, let’s do that". The emphasis here was on how very private things were kept. To this day, Ambassador Shakespeare will not break the agreement he made with Reagan and the details of that meeting and any others remain speculative. What Ambassador Shakespeare will reveal is that "both men knew what the other was. They were the only two leaders of the world shot…it was almost a mystical bond." He further elaborated at the end of his speech that he was convinced that both men were mystics. "They had a profound trust and confidence in each other".

Lech Walesa and Mikhail Gorbachev were two more players who now entered into positions that no one would have thought likely only a short time before. As Shakespeare watched events unfold and studied these four men, he became "convinced that mankind had nothing to do with those men coming on the scene."

The result was that in 1991, under the reign of Gorbechev, the end of the Soviet Union came. But "we should understand that it couldn’t have happened without the presence of the Pope".

Fatima

Ambassador Shakespeare wanted to end by emphasizing the Pope and Fatima. The Pope visited Fatima early in his Papacy. He visited again after he was shot and he left his attacker’s bullet at the foot of a three foot statue of Mary. That bullet is now embedded in the crown adorning that statue. On May 13, 2000, he returned again, this time leaving his papal ring. That ring is now on a golden chain, hanging from the hands of the same Marian statue that contains the bullet. During that last trip, he also beatified two of the Fatima children. Shakespeare staunchly believes that Pope John Paul II was the Pope of Fatima, and he believes the Pope made that quite clear.

Ambassador Shakespeare was the Ambassador to Portugal just prior to his appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.

What does he see when he looks back on this time period? "Through it all is the extraordinary weaving of Fatima". What caused the Soviet Union to fall? "I have to accept that very providential things were occurring". Sure he saw that certain strategies were effective but that was on the surface. "There were successful things but all was irrelevant".

After the speech ended there was time for more conversation and refreshments. A small group gathered around the Ambassador as he told two stories about Pope John Paul II that revealed something about his playful side. The Pope had a great sense of humor, he wanted them to know.