By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing - What Poland experienced in the years 1939-89 was the crucifixion of an entire nation. It was carried out by two poisonous systems that differed mainly in the social theories they used to justify their inhumanity... In the case of Karol Wojtyla, the hardships he endured in his own life, and the suffering he saw in so many others, served as a kind of acid bath. It dissolved everything non-essential in his character; everything except a hard core of courage and clarity of thought that allowed him to believe in man because he believed in and trusted God ....