We were in Rome when John Paul II was elected Pope, and, like most people, I didn’t know much about him. Most of the commentary at that time described the Conclave’s decision in political terms, and Karol Wojtyla was said to be a “detente Pope,” a gesture of peace toward the Soviets.

I went over to Communist Party headquarters in Via delle Botteghe Oscure to ask them what they thought of it, and one of the real hardline Stalinists put it nicely: “well,” he said, “at least our Polish comrades won’t have him around to (and here he used a colorful Roman phrase that roughly means ‘give them a hard time.’).

The Communist knew what he was talking about, and the scribblers and kibbitzers didn’t. For Catholics, John Paul II will obviously be an inspiration for generations, and even those of us who do not share his faith have been ennobled and inspired by much of what he said and did. But for the entire world, he will forever stand as a symbol of the power of individuals standing firm for freedom. “Be Not Afraid” is indeed the phrase we will associate with him, as it was the phrase that inspired millions of people to risk all against tyranny.

I had the good fortune to be a sort of informal ambassador to the Vatican when I worked for Secretary of State Haig, in the early 1980s, and I met several times with the Pope’s personal secretaries, one Polish the other African. Contrary to the nonsensical accounts of various imaginative journalists, these conversations had nothing to do with covert action, but everything to do with a mutual search for understanding world events. John Paul’s closest associates were at once brilliant, patient and constantly inquiring. They even had moments of dry humor, as when one of them asked me, “Ledeen, how can it be that in all the world, only the CIA does not know who tried to kill the Holy Father?” HoHO.

John Paul II was a towering figure at a time when the world abounded in great men and women: Reagan, Thatcher, Juan Carlos, Deng Xiaoping, Walesa, Havel, Solzhenitsyn and Bukovsky and Sharansky, Nakasone etc. He had many things to do, and he accomplished most of his mission.

It’s the mark of a world historical figure that we see him shaping great events, rather than simply “being there” when big things happen. Such was John Paul II, and all of us will feel diminished at his passing.