Pope John Paul I the sale of gold in churches to provide money to help handicapped children. He was also against worker priests—those who went to work in the factories and fields to labor with the laity—and he also criticised unions over strikes and workers' demonstrations. Pope Paul VI died on 6 August 1978, ending a reign of fifteen years. Luciani had gone to the late pope's funeral and mingled with the crowds who wanted to view the body of the late pope. In a certain moment, he thought he would not reach the body. But finally he was recognised once he had arrived
Pope John Paul II change in Soviet policy towards eastern Europe under Gorbachev; without that change, no velvet revolutions in 1989. In December 1989, John Paul II met with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Vatican and each expressed his respect and admiration for the other. Gorbachev once said "The collapse of the Iron Curtain would have been impossible without John Paul II." On John Paul II's death, Mikhail Gorbachev said: "Pope John Paul II's devotion to his followers is a remarkable example to all of us." On 4 June 2004 US President George W. Bush presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the