Gingrich Presents “Nine Days That Changed the World”

By SAMMIE LAZAR

STAFF WRITER

Published: Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Updated: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 00:02


Photo by Stephen Moccia/ The Ram

Newt Gingrich came to Fordham for a special screening of his new documentary.

Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista came to Fordham for a special screening of their new documentary Nine Days That Changed The World. The former Speaker of the House came to Fordham as a guest of the Fordham Special Events office to celebrate the life and legacy of Pope John Paul II.

Produced in conjunction with Citizens United, the Gingriches hosted the extraordinary story of Pope John Paul II, taking the audience through his life and works. The "nine days that changed the world" were the Holy See's pilgrimage through Poland in June 1979. The documentary showed the moving tale of a cardinal from Poland becoming the first non-Italian Pope in over 400 years, and manipulating the turmoil in his home country to instill a feeling of solidarity among Catholics to go against the forced atheism of communism.

Pope John Paul II campaigned with love and tolerance, becoming the first Pope to travel to Egypt and Mexico, in addition to speaking out against anti-Semitism. He used love to combat the violence and martial law that marked the regimes in Poland and all across the Soviet Union, and he was a large factor in the revolution that eventually overturned communist rule.

Gingrich's attitude toward the late pope was one of complete admiration for his work against communism. He talked before the event about how as a young person and then a member of the armed services, he had seen the reign of the Soviet Union and had been witness to its power. The documentary that he and his wife produced aims to show how, with peace and diplomacy, a pope and those who believed in his message could bring down forces of violence.

"I thought the movie was extremely interesting," Eileen Bradley, GSB '13, said. "When people think of communist countries, they think of Soviet Russia and East Berlin, not Poland. It was interesting to see the post-war struggle there and how greatly the Pope influenced the change. It was inspiring to see how much religion could influence a country from an oppressed regime to democracy."

With campaigns like that of Pope John Paul II, those walls came down and the world was inspired.

"I hope students came and learned about a man, who was truly one of the greatest to ever live," John Mantia, GSB '13, president of the College Republicans, said. "We are supremely lucky to have had him as our Pope while we were growing up. He was the major force behind the collapse of the Soviet Union, and he did it without firing a single shot. His message of peace and freedom broke down the walls of the Iron Curtain and ushered in prosperity to much of Eastern Europe. It [was] a night to celebrate an incredible man, and I hope students have found the documentary fascinating and moving."

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