The catholic church was an influential and highly powerful actor in Poland’s counterrevolution. John Paul II is also considered an influential figure by the societal psyche, although nowadays he’s more of a meme than a respected figure. An outdated cult of personality your grandma is subject to.
Himself, the Polish pope was an ardent anti-communist. His wikipedia page, especially the Polish one, is full of citations to that fact. So if the right wing encyclopedia agrees on all that, I think it’s sources are “good enough”
A lot of major right wing and Catholic newspapers in Poland agree also, that the church was very influential with the Pope in the center.
Radio Trójka for example, paints the events of 1989, as “Poland regaining independence”. From what I do not know, but they do say something important.
“Kościół katolicki w Polsce w czasach komunizmu to wyjątek od reguły. To jedyna społeczna instytucja w całym bloku sowieckim, która zachowała niezależność od władzy komunistycznej na taką skalę. To jest ewenement – podsumował historyk Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego prof. Paweł Skibiński.”
“The Catholic Church in Poland under communism is an exception to the rule. It is the only social institution in the entire Soviet bloc that maintained its independence from communist rule on such a scale. This is a phenomenon,” concluded Warsaw University historian Prof. Pawel Skibinski.” - Translated with DeepL, I feel rahter lazy today lol
As you can see, the church could operate rather freely within the country. A huge mistake in my eyes, as Catholicism’s centralist(?) approach to organization is their strength to me, and they used it to restore Capitalism. I will never forgive them, because now I have to live in the mess they’ve made.
If you want some hope, look up Liberation Theology. It’s cool because John Paul II officially denounced it.