Description
The reign of the first Slav Pope, Karol Wojtyลa, John Paul II, has occurred at one of the turning points of history. Communism has collapsed as a political creed, 'quiet' revolutions have transformed Eastern Europe, and the Gulf War has created a radically new situation in the Middle East. These and other developments the soon to be celebrated birth of the six-billionth member of the human race, the rise of high-consumption societies in the rich world amid a developing world condemned to apparently endless hunger and poverty, the arrival of the global communications village and scientific advances in areas such as genetics are reshaping the Catholic Church, the world's longest surviving inter- national organization.
The Vatican is the smallest sovereign State, and has only the budget of a small to medium-sized company in the United States, yet it now wields huge political influence in the international field. John Paul II is not only a spiritual leader of the 900 million members of his Roman Catholic flock, but also a world statesman ranked in importance along-side Presidents Gorbachev and Bush. The Pope's prestige has grown through his unprecedented series of world travels. Fifty major foreign pilgrimages have taken him to over ninety countries in every continent of the world
ISBN:9780571166688
