The Catholic Church continued to play an important role in politics beyond 1945. Catholicism was and is the most populous and readily identifiable sect of Christianity. The papacy continued and continues to be politically relevant throughout world politics.
The Second Vatican Council was especially important in launching an enthusiastic and inclusive Catholicism more willing to work within modern society rather than the traditional stance of opposing it. The Catholic Church still represented a traditional and conservative agenda, but this agenda was no longer necessarily at odds with the forces of modernity. This reenergized Catholic Church proved especially powerful in countries with a strong sense of Roman Catholic identity.
One of the best examples of this persistent political influence is the early papacy of recently-canonized John Paul II. Hailing from communist Poland, Formerly Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Krakow represented a politically vocal post-Vatican II Catholic Church determined to maintain influence on the course of world politics. He was able to appeal to Poland's strong Catholic identity in opposition of the communist state. His 1979 visit to his Polish homeland helped in the creation of the 1980s Solidarity movement that eventually resulted in the collapse of communism in Poland. The conservative Catholic Church in general became a powerful voice in the opposition of totalitarian communism.
While it is entirely possible that a movement like Solidarity could have happened without the influence of the papacy in highly Catholic Poland
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