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PASTOR'S REPORT, June 18, 1979
Page 20
But two key excerpts are worth noting here:
"The pope seemed to envision an eventual pan-European Christian alliance
against the secular materialism of both East and West."
"Charisma was not the word to describe what had happened... John Paul II
stirred an outpouring of trust and affection that no political leader in
today's world could hope to inspire, let alone command."
The conclusion of the Time article was this:
'"There is something like a vacuum in world leadership that John Paul might
well be able to fill,
1
says St. John-Stevas, a Catholic layman. He believes
the world is
1
suffering from spiritual starvation and bereft of moral lead
ership. The gods of secularism and materialism have failed to satisfy,
and mankind is looking for new perspectives.'
"Those failed gods, West and East, appear to be as powerful as ever in the
onrush of events. But the Slav Pope has suddenly emerged from his triumphant
visit to Poland as a dramatic and compel�ing personality on the international
scene. John Paul will surely have something of his own to say about the
prind.pal1ties and powers of his era."
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau