Conclusion

Polish Catholic identity entered the 1970s as publically weak but still privately practiced. Soviet policies aimed at repressing distinct national minorities, which were implemented via compliant Polish authorities, saw the reduction of Catholic political power in the Polish People's Republic. However, structural changes to the government in the mid-1970s saw Catholic intellectuals make various public stands against the Soviet Union on ideological and religious grounds, marking an outburst of Polish Catholic identity. Moreover, the election of Pope John Paul II as head of the global Catholic Church further empowered Polish Catholics. Therefore, Polish Catholic identity still existed under the cultural surface in the 1970s, and exploded into the forefront of Polish society in the 1980s.

Pope John Paul II served as a symbol for the wider Polish population, giving Poles (most of whom were Catholic) a figure to rally behind in support of both national and religious causes. This caused an upswell of Polish Catholic identity that lasted for many years, creating significant problems for the Soviet Union and national Polish authorities about controlling and unifiying the Warsaw Pact countries. The increase in Polish Catholic (and by extension, national) identity roughly corresponds with the Gorbachev era and the bloc-wide increase in nationality, making the Polish People's Republic emblematic of the larger changes affecting the eastern bloc in the 1980s. This further blends into course themes of nationality policy and multicultralism, as different regimes and leaders had distinct approaches for the various ethnic and national groups within the larger empire (both socialist republics and bloc countries).