The Armata Bianca and the Holy Father

On August 30, 1980 His Holiness John Paul II came to Aquila on the occasion of the VI centenary of the birth of St. Bernardine of Siena, the joint patron saint of the city. It was a difficult time for Poland, there was great tension between the authorities and the Solidarnosc labour union, there was some talk about a conflict which could have repercussions on a worldwide level: «Pray for my Homeland» the Pope asked.

The Armata Bianca organized a rally of 4,000 children with their families at the town stadium; the children recited the entire rosary, all 15 mysteries, so that Mary would give the Pope the gift of peace in his land.

However, the organizers were late and the Pontiff was only able to take one ride around the stadium with his car: enough time to greet the crowd and receive a very long applause.

But no one could prevent Mary from answering the prayer of “her” children who had pledged themselves to pray for peace in Poland. Here are the events as they appeared in the press: in the national news, together with news of the Pope’s visit to Aquila we read on August 31, 1980:

PAESE SERA, August 31, 1980: “Warsaw – Agreement in Poland: The government acknowledges the right to strike, (…) The choice of the agreement didn’t occur automatically, but in the fire of a political struggle. It wouldn’t be unveiling a mystery to say that, next to the “Polish compromise”, another option was on the agenda, the repression meant as an extreme means. (…) A founded anxiety had in fact taken hold of many observers present in Danzica in the hours that immediately preceded the agreement. At a certain point the belief, strengthened by unconfirmed reports by Polish sources, was that the “hard line” was prevailing and that there would be an action of force in the near future. (…)”.

In Warsaw, the decision was made while the children of Aquila were reciting the rosary: the Armata Bianca had won its battle, the Pope’s gift was a reality, even if the 4,000 children couldn’t receive a word from their “Daddy” who would have liked to speak to them: «I would have liked to remain longer with the children» was the headlines on newspapers occupying eight columns the following day.

The Armata Bianca, right from the beginning of its establishment has been at the Pope’s side in his spiritual battles: if we can reason as believers, we could say that the rally of Aquila marked the first blow that the little “Davids” of Mary have dealt to terrible “Goliath” who has tyrannized over the Eastern nations for 70 years. In fact, we read in another newspaper article of that time:

IL GIORNALE, August 31, 1980: Warsaw August 30: “A breach in the system”: “I believe we can write without emphasis that starting today Poland is no longer the same, and that even the blockage of “real socialism”, taken as a whole, will never be able to be the same, (…) The news is revolutionary. (…) for the first time, at least on this level, and after a confrontation of this gravity and violence with power, the solution was found in negotiation, without authoritarian involvement, without riots and without bloodshed”.