Inside a Private Audience with Pope John Paul II
Title
Inside a Private Audience with Pope John Paul II
Creator
Description
After witnessing a 1985 crackdown on Solidarity demonstrators in Poland, a delegation from Buffalo, New York met privately with Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence in the Roman Hills of Italy. The meeting was important to the Polish pope, who is often credited for playing a major role in the eventual fall of communism in Poland.
Buffalo has a large Polish population with close ties to Poland. The pope had visited Western New York when he was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. The private audience on September 6, 1985 had been granted in advance because of an exchange program between Daemen College in Buffalo and the Catholic University in Lublin, Poland.
The pope had spent twenty-five years at the Catholic University as a professor and chairman of the Faculty of Ethics. It was the only Christian university in the Soviet Bloc. The Buffalo delegation had included a visit to the university in its travels through Poland.
One of the delegation leaders, Brian Rusk, who represented Daemen College president Robert Marshall, commented to the pope that the exchange program would carry on his "words and teachings for peace and brotherhood in the world." The pope openly expressed his gratitude for support the program was receiving.
During their journey through Poland, the delegation had revisited Buffalo's many ties to the Polish people (see "Hearts and Minds Together" in the collection). Another delegation leader, Richard Solecki, had a special security contact within the Solidarity movement. This relationship enabled the delegates to meet with Solidarity leader Lech Walesa minutes before his demonstrators took to the streets of Gdansk.
The entire private audience with Pope John Paul II was photographed by News 4 photographer Don Yearke. It can be viewed following Rich Newberg's WIVB-TV live report from outside the pope's residence. At one point, when Newberg sought comment from the pope on Solidarity's efforts to free Poland from communism, his microphone was snatched out of his hand by a papal aide.
That's when the pope took Newberg by the arm and whispered, "Without Solidarity, there can be no peace!"
Buffalo has a large Polish population with close ties to Poland. The pope had visited Western New York when he was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. The private audience on September 6, 1985 had been granted in advance because of an exchange program between Daemen College in Buffalo and the Catholic University in Lublin, Poland.
The pope had spent twenty-five years at the Catholic University as a professor and chairman of the Faculty of Ethics. It was the only Christian university in the Soviet Bloc. The Buffalo delegation had included a visit to the university in its travels through Poland.
One of the delegation leaders, Brian Rusk, who represented Daemen College president Robert Marshall, commented to the pope that the exchange program would carry on his "words and teachings for peace and brotherhood in the world." The pope openly expressed his gratitude for support the program was receiving.
During their journey through Poland, the delegation had revisited Buffalo's many ties to the Polish people (see "Hearts and Minds Together" in the collection). Another delegation leader, Richard Solecki, had a special security contact within the Solidarity movement. This relationship enabled the delegates to meet with Solidarity leader Lech Walesa minutes before his demonstrators took to the streets of Gdansk.
The entire private audience with Pope John Paul II was photographed by News 4 photographer Don Yearke. It can be viewed following Rich Newberg's WIVB-TV live report from outside the pope's residence. At one point, when Newberg sought comment from the pope on Solidarity's efforts to free Poland from communism, his microphone was snatched out of his hand by a papal aide.
That's when the pope took Newberg by the arm and whispered, "Without Solidarity, there can be no peace!"
Date
1985-09-06
Publisher
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Rights
Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
Type
Moving Image
Format
video/mp4
Language
Collection
Citation
Newberg, Rich, “Inside a Private Audience with Pope John Paul II,” B&ECPL Digital Collections, accessed December 5, 2025, https://digital.buffalolib.org/document/17425.