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The late pope, who was canonized today, is remembered in Poland as an architect of the fall of communism a role of new significance in light of the Kremlin's increasing assertiveness.

By Sara Miller Llana,Staff writer, Monika Rbaa,Correspondent / April 27, 2014

Poland has, since the fall of communism, become a more secular country to the point that lawmakers have beendivided over whether to grant a parliamentary declaration to Pope John Paul II, who was canonized today at the Vatican.

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But even as secular forces push for a greater separation of church and state in this still deeply Catholic country, no one denies the fundamental role the Polish-born pontiff played as Poland emerged from Soviet occupation.

And his canonization comes at a time when Poland is once again looking warily at a resurgent Russia, which is engaged in a political game in Ukraine that has prompted uncomfortable parallels with the cold war. Poles sit at the forefront of demanding a tough response from the West to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Today offers a reminder of how Poland arrived at its position in 2014 as a democratic nation firmly embedded in the European Union.

People listened to him, even those who didn't believe in God. He gave us power and hope, he was a symbol of freedom, says Paulina Jelen, a middle-aged resident of Warsaw. Ms. Jelen remembers that during the cold war, her mother worked for the state telecommunications company, which communist authorities used to jam the broadcasts of papal visits.

During pastoral visits to Poland he gave people power and a lot of energy. He talked so many times about responsibility and dignity, and people realized that Communists took these away from them, says Maciej Zieba, a Polish Dominican priest who was a good friend of John Paul II.

The sainthood ceremony is part of an unprecedented, and controversial, double canonization overseen by Pope Francis himself a wildly popular leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John XXIII, who served from 1958 to 1963, is known as the good pope who attempted to adapt the church to modern realities by calling the Second Vatican Council. And Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope in 450 years and who sat from 1978 to his death in 2005, was adored by the masses as he traveled the globe.

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Poland looks to Pope John Paul II with new eyes as Russia stirs (+video)