Russians saw John Paul’s Polish nationality as linking him to a long history of perceived oppression of Russian Orthodoxy. No less a figure than Alexander Pushkin wrote in 1836 that “Orthodoxy has always been persecuted by Catholic fanaticism….Their missionaries cursed the Orthodox Church, with hypocrisy and threats tried to recruit into Catholicism not only ordinary people but Orthodox priests as well.”
在俄罗斯人眼里，约翰﹒保罗的波兰国籍一直把教皇与俄罗斯东正教长年来受压迫的历史联系在一起。连亚历山大﹒普希金这样鼎鼎大名的人物都曾在1836年写道“东正教一直受到天主教狂热主义的迫害……他们的传教士诅咒东正教，骂东正教虚伪，威胁东正教，不仅企图把普通人，还企图把东正教传教士一起拉入天主教中。”现在那些依旧视天主教为威胁的俄罗斯人，还经常引用普希金的这番话。