The radio commentator eagerly shared the news in June 1979 about Pope John Paul II returning to his native Poland, a land where people had known suffering for generations.

“For 40 years, the Polish people have lived first under the Nazis and then the Soviets,” he said. “The voices behind those tanks and guns have told them there is no God. Now with the eyes of all the world on them, they have looked past those menacing weapons and listened to the voice of one man who has told them there is a God and it is their inalienable right to freely worship that God. … Perhaps that one man, the son of simple farm folks, has made us aware that the world is crying out for a spiritual revival and leadership.”