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of Religious Workers for Saving the Sacred Gift of Life from Nuclear Catastrophe (which was
attended by 600 clergymen from around the world), which was sponsored by the Russian
Orthodox Church. The Reagan Administration tried to convince him not to go fearing that he
would become a victim of communist propaganda. While he was there, he said that he didn’t see
any evidence of religious repression, and said: “There are differences, of course, in religion as it
is practiced here and, let’s say, in the U.S. But that doesn’t mean there is no religious freedom.”
That was hardly an accurate statement concerning the religious status of the Soviet Union, an
atheistic country, who at the time was still dominated by Communism, and persecuted those who
worshipped God.
When he returned to America, Graham was asked if his views towards communism had
changed, and he said: “I’ve changed a little at this point, but I am not a pro-Communist.” In
Franklin Graham’s book Rebel With a Cause, he said that on one particular trip to Russia, Soviet
government officials completely controlled his schedule, “but never hindered his preaching …
(because) Daddy never spoke against Communism in his sermons.”
In 1957, Graham was quoted as saying that Catholicism was “a stench in the nostrils of
God,” yet leaders in his own organization, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, have tried
to assure supporters that Billy is not catering to the Catholic Church.
In the early 1950’s, Cardinal Richard Cushing, the Archbishop of Boston, said that “if he had
half a dozen Billy Grahams, he would not worry about the future of his Church.” After meeting
with him in 1964, Cushing said: “I am 100% for the evangelist. I have never known a religious
crusade that was more effective than Dr. Graham’s. I have never heard the slightest criticism of
anything he has ever said from a Catholic source.” In response, Graham said: “I feel much closer
to Roman Catholic tradition than to some of the more liberal Protestants…” In 1966, he said: “I
find myself closer to Catholics than the radical Protestants.” In 1978, Billy said: “I found that my
beliefs are essentially the same as those of orthodox Catholics.”
When Billy was in Poland in 1978, he praised the “greatness” of Pope Paul VI, even though
leaders of his own church criticized him for catering to Communists. Pope Paul was the first
Pope to visit the West, and the first place he went was the United Nations, where he gave a
speech on October 4, 1965, and then was taken to the Meditation Room.
Graham admitted to being an admirer of Pope John Paul II, and said on the Phil Donahue
Show in 1979:
“I think the American people are looking for a leader, a moral spiritual leader that
believes something. And he does. He didn’t mince words on a single subject. As a matter
of fact, his subject in Boston was really an evangelical address in which he asked the
people to come to Christ, to give their lives to Christ. I said, ‘Thank God I’ve got
somebody to quote now with some real authority’.”
Graham has called Pope John a “great evangelist,” the “greatest religious leader of the
modern world and one of the greatest moral and spiritual leaders of this century.” Another time,
he said that the Pope was “God’s instrument for revival in our generation.” In 1994 when Time
magazine declared Pope John as its “Man of the Year,” Graham said: “He’ll go down in history
as the greatest of our modern popes … He’s been the strong conscience of the whole Christian
world.” In an interview with Associated Press reporter Richard Ostling, he said he would choose
Pope John as the ‘Man of the Century,’ because he admired “his courage, determination,
intellectual abilities and his understanding of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox differences, and