Changing Contours of Life 1141

priests” entered factories in the 1950s, trying to win back workers to the
Church while supporting their demands for better working conditions, until
the pope condemned the movement. The election in 1958 of the more lib­
eral Pope John XXIII signaled a new direction, marked by the opening of dia­
logue with other religions. Pope John presided over a council (Vatican II)
that undertook significant changes in Church practices, allowing the Mass
to be said in local languages and appointing more cardinals from other
places than Europe and North America, without altering dogma.
Pope John’s successor Paul VI continued the move toward ecumenism,
visiting Istanbul and Jerusalem to meet with leaders of the Eastern Orthodox
churches. But several notable theologians who challenged Church doctrine
drew the wrath of Rome. In 1978, Paul died, as did his successor, John Paul
I, after only two months on the throne of Saint Peter. The puffs of white
smoke rising from the Vatican chimney then announced the first non-Italian
pope since the sixteenth century, the Polish-born Pope John Paul II (Karol
Wojtyla, 1920—2005; succeeded by Benedict XVI). While remaining conser­
vative on matters of faith and doctrine, the new pope traveled far and wide
across the world, calling for social justice. He became a symbol of hope for
millions of oppressed people. If the percentages of Catholics practicing their
religion fell rapidly in France, Italy, and Spain, the Catholic Church retained
particular allegiance in Poland, Croatia, Portugal, and Ireland. Yet even
these solidly Catholic countries legalized divorce, despite ecclesiastical
opposition.

An industrial chaplain speaks with a factory worker in Scotland,

in an effort to liberalize the Catholic Church and bring it into

modern life.