Already infamous for the arbitrary, paranoid persecution of their own citizens, the Soviet Union also waged a vicious espionage war against the Catholic Church and its followers. From the persecution of local priests to an assassination order against Pope John Paul II, the KGB viewed Catholicism as a threat to stability in Eastern Europe and treated the Church as an enemy of the State.
Lifetime journalist and former U.S. Army Intelligence Officer John Koehler has written the definitive book on this startling history. Using never before seen documents and transcripts, including details of how the KGB, Gorbachev, and the Politburo supported and enabled the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II, Koehler paints a vivid picture of the Soviet network of spies and sleeper agents, from Dominican monks to Vatican secretaries, who helped the KGB infiltrate the Church's infrastructure even in community parishes. But what is often most impressive is the extreme courage of everyday believers who offered shelter and protection to persecuted clergymen, despite the danger of their own arrest or execution.
The KGB's efforts to purge the Soviet Union of the Church's "conspiratorial influence" would eventually backfire. The shared sense of unity that developed as a result of these attacks, compounded with the myriad of grievances brought on by decades of brutal Soviet rule, would culminate in the birth of the Solidarity movement after a visit by the Pope in 1979. This unprecedented history of the Soviet Union's cold war against the Catholic Church is a vital and important contribution to the works of twentieth century history.