Vance accompanied the crown. At its reception in the domed par-
liament building in Budapest was Cardinal Lékái, but not the first
secretary of the Communist Party, the head of government.53
The full impact of the Vatican’s rapprochement with the So-
viet Union and the American parallel policy would not be felt for
another decade, but the groundwork for the eventual fall of the
Soviet Union had already been laid by John XXIII’s willingness to
offer his services to prevent nuclear war and by his openness to
all men of goodwill. Paul VI followed through in this policy, es-
pecially with the assistance of Agostino Casaroli, who frequently
conducted his work informally, if not in secret. What assured the
continuity between the policies of John and Paul was not only
their shared concern for peace, but also the shared view that
peace would ultimately have to be based on the dignity of the hu-
man person and the need for social justice that would ultimately
undermine communism.
- New York Times, January 7, 1978.
VATICAN II AND THE COLD WAR 49