The documentary “Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism” will be broadcast on PBS stations throughout the month of June (check local listings).

Produced by the Knights of Columbus, the 90-minute film looks at the crucial role the Polish pontiff played, both in public and behind the scenes, in bringing about the overthrow of Eastern Europe’s Marxist regimes. The film uses archival footage and insights gleaned from interviews with heads of state, scholars, journalists, Church leaders and St. John Paul II’s close personal acquaintances.

Narrator Jim Caveziel (“The Passion of the Christ”), shows how the future saint was shaped by history and heritage. Revisited are the major influences on Karol Wojtyla: his devout parents and happy upbringing in a free Polish nation, the devastation of the Nazi invasion and World War II, life as an underground seminarian, and the crushing effects of Soviet-led communism on family life and faith.

For more information about “Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism” or to purchase it on DVD, visit http://www.jp2film.com.