Spies in the Vatican: The Soviet Union's Cold War Against the Catholic Church

As one who was directly involved in the Cold War, in one way or the other, from its beginning in 1947 to its end in 1991, I found John O. Koehler's "Spies in the Vatican: The Soviet Union's Cold War Again the Catholic Church" both fascinating and highly informative. I, an old Cold War hand learned a number of intriguing things I never knew. In fact, prior to this book I like most, if not all, Cold War mavens had no idea of the extent to which communist agents had so thoroughly penetrated the Vatican even at its highest levels. Koehler was not only an Army intelligence officer specializing in counter espionage and collection, he was a highly seasoned foreign correspondent who rose to head the Associated Press' Worldwide Service. In writing this book he greatly benefited from the research for his previous book "Stasi: the Untold Story of the East German Secret Police", most of which was gleaned frm secret Stasi files that became available after the fall of the East German regime. Like all Soviet Bloc state security services, the Stasi exchanged information with the Soviet KGB, the Polish SB and other servies. This proved to be an incredible sources of detailed information for this, his latest book, in addition to a host of other sources, including interviews with knowledgableable individuals both in the Vatican and elsewhere. The Russian Communist Party that came to power in 1917 was implacably hostile to all religion, especially Christianity. Koehler describes how it destroyed the Catholic Church in Russia and brutally suppressed the dominant Orthodox Church over which eventually gained total control. The staunchly anti-communist Catholic Church posed a special problem for Moscow in Easter Europe, especially in strongly Catholic Poland. Thus, there was considerable interest in discovering what the Vatican was up to. To that end Bloc security services made a determined effort to plant spies in the Vatican, most of whom, alas, were bribed or blackmailed members of the clergy including, according to Koehler, ten to fifteen percent of the Polish clergy who collaborated with the SB. One of these was a very senior prelate who was even named Archbishop of Warsaw, but was exposed just before he took this position. These are all pretty shocking revelations, especially to those of us who are Catholic. What most alarmed the Kremlin was the ascendancy to Peter's Throne of Polish John Paul II who made a wildly triumphant -- and deeply disturbing to Moscow -- nine day tour of his native land in 1979, described in detail in the book. This led to a November 13, 1979, meeting of the nine most senior members of the Soviet Party Central Committee where a document was produced which, in elliptical language, in effect iniated the 1981 attempted assassination of the Pope. One of the nine signing was none other than Mikhail S. Gorbachev. To me that most interesting part of this book was a description of how this assassination attempt was organized and how it became ex

"Spies in the Vatican" focuses on the era of Pope John Paul. Koehler reveals a slew of interesting facts, now that much of the Communist documents are available. From its inception, Communist Russia was an atheist regime. And, from Lenin onwards, the Communists had the Orthodox, the Catholic, and the Protestant clergy rounded up like cattle, and shipped to the Gulag to die of starvation or neglect. Or, for those members of the clergy who were more prominent, murdered quickly. Lenin wrote "'Now, and only now, when people are being eaten in famine stricken areas, and hundreds, if not thousands, of corpses lie on the roads, we can (and therefore must) pursue the removal of church property with the most frenzied and ruthless energy and not hesitate to put down the least opposition" (p 7). Atheists are always such charmers, aren't they? The election of Pope John Paul sent the Politburo into a tailspin of worry. They noted in horror the reaction in Poland where "people embraced each other and got on their knees on the streets" (p 58) after John Paul's election. The Stasi's report on the crisis was "more than an inch thick, 214 pages" (p 69). Worse news was to follow. The pope promptly visited Poland, and, at one point, "well over 800,000 Poles gave the pontiff a joyous welcome to Krakow" (p 77). It was clear that the pope, furthermore, had been elected "at a time when his land was on the verge of chaos with ever-increasing anti-Soviet sentiment among the people, especially the working class" (p 87). Anti-communist sentiment grew among the Poles, and the movement Solidarity was formed. Koehler details the way the Soviets responded, including naming the names of some of the more notable spies the Soviets sent to the Vatican. But their real response came in late April 1981. Agca shot the pope, but the bullet went slightly astray, and the pope was only wounded. The Communists had lost. As Solidarity grew into a vast political force, the Soviets faced a determined Ronald Reagan and a clearly anti-Communist Pope John Paul. This is one book you will certainly want in your library. Also, any Catholic interested in this book will also want to read "Catholic Martyrs of the 20th Century" which goes into detail about how the Communists murdered priest, nuns, and the laity in places as diverse as Mexico, Spain, and China during the past century.

Recently I had a talk with a young Russian man. He was here in a work exchange program on the beach. He asked about the many war relics on at Fort Pickens. He was interested and knew a lot about WWII. He corrected me on the turning point of the war in Europe being Stalingrad. It is no longer Stalingrad but he knew all about it. I am of the generation that was taught to hide under the desks at school when the Russians were bombing so I asked about the Cold War. He knew little about it as would an American youngster his age. This book is an amazing account of part of that war and how intense it was. It is a very well footnoted account of the Soviet's infiltration of the Pope's inner sanctum. The author, John Koehler, was a former U.S. Army Intelligence Offer specializing in counter-espionage and intelligence collection, and an adviser to President Regan as well as journalist for almost 40 years. As I have said about other contributors, he was there! This is a must read for anyone who wants the real scoop about the Cold War and maybe required reading for those who claim to teach history.

I recommend that if any one has interest in espionage to read this book. The Polish people were battered by Russia, but not demoralized, attached, but not broken. They had meet challenges and survived. The book goes into intricate details about KGB spies,and how they conducted operations against the Holy See. A very fascinating book. How spies were recruited,and how they infiltrated every department of the vatican. The book is well written by John Koehler. Joe Somma

This is an excellent, well written and well documented book of non-fiction by a respected author in the field. John Koehler uses never before seen documents and transcripts and footnotes actual secret and declassified Soviet documents he used to reveal the Soviet Union's espionage war against the Catholic Church and its followers. He clearly documents the plans and the reasons for the assassination attempt on Pope Paul II in 1981."Readers will be amazed by this account of the Soviet Union's infiltration of the Catholic Church." Eastern European agents occupying prominent positions in the church hierarchy were able to be present and had direct contact with U.S. and allied leaders in briefing sessions with the Papacy. Cold War strategies used to brief the Pope were reported to the Soviet Union in a matter of days. The author is a lifetime journalist and former U.S. Army intelligence officer.