Nancy Reagan: Pope 'was very special'
Leaders had 'psychological and emotional tie'
 |  Nancy Reagan says her husband and the pope "were very much alike." |
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 CNN's Christiane Amanpour on mourners at St. Peter's.
 Pope helped spark the fall of communism.
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SPECIAL REPORT |
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(CNN) -- Pope John Paul II is said to have played an important role in the collapse of communism. One of his allies in those efforts was U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who passed away last year.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer spoke Sunday by phone with former first lady Nancy Reagan, from her home in Los Angeles, California.
BLITZER: I wonder if you'd want to reflect a little bit on your meetings with Pope John Paul II. I believe you met with him, what, seven times?
REAGAN: Seven times, yes. And two of those times I was alone meeting with him, which was quite an experience. Wonderful experience.
BLITZER: What about this man? How special was he in your life and the life of the late President Ronald Reagan?
REAGAN: Oh, he was very special. First of all, they were very much alike. I mean, these were two men who were former actors. They both loved the outdoors, sports, natural sports-minded, and good at sports. And they shared the title of Great Communicator, both of them. And they both had wonderful senses of humor.
But also, when Ronnie was shot in '81, the pope was shot in '81. And Ronnie died in June of this year; the pope is dying in this year. It was -- there was -- they were very, very much alike. They crossed paths a lot.
BLITZER: I was going to add, though, as you point out, they had these assassination attempts, what, six weeks apart back in 1981. That must have, when they met in subsequent years, forged a unique bond between these two leaders.
REAGAN: That, that plus the kind of men they were. And their desire to do something about communism. All of that.
BLITZER: Well, they both were -- played pivotal roles in the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War. When you were there, did they talk about that in your presence? Do you remember meetings where you heard both of these leaders speaking about the ill effects of communism?
REAGAN: No, I didn't -- I didn't hear it. I know they talked about it, obviously. And maybe that one picture that -- I don't know whether you're showing it or not, but I have a picture of the two of them in the library here, they're both sitting down.
The pope is sitting with his head bent, listening, and Ronnie is halfway out of his chair and talking to the pope, and his hand is out and his finger's out, obviously he's telling him something. And you wonder, what in the world is Ronnie saying? The pope is listening very carefully to him. It's a wonderful picture.
BLITZER: When your husband died, I know that you received a note from Pope John Paul II. Do you want to share with our viewers in the United States and around the world what he said to you?
REAGAN: Well, I have -- he was in Switzerland when Ronnie died. And he was very shocked. It's funny, you know, certainly with Ronnie and with the pope, you expect death to come, but when it does come, you're never prepared. And the men who co-authored the book with Carl Bernstein, which is a very good book...
BLITZER: The book about the pope?
REAGAN: Yes. He said that there was a there was a psychological and emotional tie between the two, that John Paul hasn't had with any other president. And I think that's true.
