"Poland proved a lightning rod for the unpopularity of Communist regimes, with the added ingredients of traditional hostility to Russia and a strong national Christian commitment. This was shown in 1979 when John Paul II, the Polish Pope elected in 1978, drew millions on his ‘pilgrimage’ to the country. John Paul was at once theologically highly conservative and determined to challenge Communism as an unwelcome excrescence, especially in Poland. While a Cardinal there, he had met opposition leaders in 1976, and his stance was important in a major shift from the earlier position of the Catholic hierarchy there. In the 1960s, this hierarchy had sought better relations with the regime, but now, under John Paul, there was to be no compromise with Marxism and, instead, an affirmation of the authority of the Church. The strength of Catholic devotion in Poland was shown in public religious services. In turn, via Bulgarian intermediaries, the KGB may have been involved in the attempted assassination of the Pope in Rome in 1981. Although far from on the same scale or as public, Christian commitment and activity was also seen elsewhere in the Communist Bloc. Indeed, in this period, the Council for Religious Affairs in the Soviet Union received frequent complaints on this head from local agents."