VATICAN CITY, JUNE 16 (ZENIT.org)

    Commenting on the publication in Italian of Cardinal Agostino Casaroli's memoirs, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini said that it is a "great history lesson that comes to us from a courageous and tenacious man." Cardinal Casaroli was John Paul II's right hand man for 13 years. Significantly, his memoirs are entitled "Martyrdom of Patience" (" Il martirio della pazienza," Einaudi).

    Casaroli passed into history as the great diplomat of negotiations with communist countries during the Cold War. His first mission to one of these countries was in Hungary in 1963, when the trauma of the 1956 uprising was still raw. He was sent by John XXIII, the real author of the opening toward communism, as Cardinal Casaroli explains in his memoirs. It was a lonely venture full of unknowns. An Austrian chauffeur left him at the Hungarian border dressed as a civilian and wearing a tie, awaiting orders from the Hungarian authorities. The instructions given to him by the Pope were not very specific. "It was necessary to see what could be done in the service of the Church in communist Hungary and Czechoslovakia." From then on, and for several years later, Cardinal Casaroli became a kind of Vatican "secret agent" in countries controlled by the Soviet Union.

    On his missions, he had to deal both with lackluster bureaucrats and heroes of the persecuted Church, like Cardinal Mindszenty, who sought asylum in the U.S.Embassy in Bucharest, and in whom Cardinal Casaroli saw a "steel knife, inflexible, ready to endure any confrontation," and Cardinal Beran, Archbishop of Prague, isolated from the world for 14 long years, who in his first meeting with Cardinal Casaroli was "brimming with joy and serenity." He also had many dealings with Cardinal Wyszynski of Warsaw, whom the communists wanted the Pope to remove, as he would not bend to their impositions.

    In an interview with the Italian newspaper "Avvenire," Cardinal Achille Silvestrini spoke about Cardinal Casaroli, with whom he worked in the Vatican State Secretariat for almost 20 years.Together they fought many diplomatic battles on the front line of the former Soviet Union, until 1988 when Silvestrini was created Cardinal and undertook different responsibilities. At present, he is prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. Cardinal Casaroli continued as John Paul II's right hand man at the Secretariat of State until 1991, when he was replaced by Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

    In speaking about relations between the Vatican and Moscow during the Cold War years, many see a contrast between the policy of small steps taken by Cardinal Casaroli, who died last year, and John Paul II's energetic line. However, Cardinal Silvestrini said: "No, there is no contradiction. Relations between the Vatican and the communist countries of Eastern Europe passed through three phases. The first, from 45 to 63, was under the sign of "abominatio desolationis," as Cardinal Casaroli states in his memoirs. The second, from 63 to 78, was the phase of exhausting negotiations with the communist regimes. The third was the one opened by the Eastern Pope, with personal experience of the oppression and injustices suffered by the Church behind the Iron Curtain, with the vigorous affirmation of human rights and the pride of a nation claiming restoration of its own historical and Christian dignity."

    The last phase has spelled a great change. "Already in 75, with the final Helsinki Act, the Catholic Church had obtained recognition of religious liberty and human rights. Since 1978, there has been a Pope who raised his voice and said to the communist countries: "You must implement those agreements on which the legitimacy of governments is founded!" John XXIII opened a breach: Paul VI went forward cautiously, and John Paul II re-launched the challenge in all its breadth. There is a speech of Paul VI, which is like an invitation and charge to his successor. Addressing the diplomatic corps for the last time in January of 1978, Paul VI said: 'Are the times not ripe to respond to the plea of millions of people so that all will be able to enjoy the justified dimension of liberty for their faith?' Indeed, they were," Cardinal Silvestrini said.

    Why did Cardinal Casaroli deal with the communist regimes? "He hoped to awaken the dawn of hope for oppressed, humiliated believers. It is an expression taken from Psalm 56 that Casaroli personally translated from the Vulgate, which always inspired him. He suffered enormously because of the situation of the Church in Eastern Europe. I am thinking of the case of Cardinal Mindszenty, a heroic figure whom the Pope asked to resign and who was relieved of his office. A dramatic decision, a thorn for the 'Ostpolitik.' This must be admitted," Cardinal Silvestrini explained.

    Not all walls fell in 1989, however. The dialogue with the Russian Church continues to be difficult. In your opinion, will the Pope travel to Moscow? "I think so, although I cannot say how or when. But whoever believes in Providence, going beyond history, intuits that sooner or later this meeting will take place. Although here, the martyrdom of patience is necessary." ZE00061603c

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