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POPE JOHN PAUL 11,
welcomed last
autumn to Spain by King Juan Carlos 1,
right, urged Europeans everywhere to
"give life to your roots. . . . rebuild your
spiritual unity."
resident Soviet citizen to be created
a cardinal since the Russian revolu–
tion.
At the same time, Polish Arch–
bishop Jozef Glemp was elevated
to the office of cardinal, along
with East Germany's J oachim
Meisner, the Archbishop of Ber–
lín.
Thus, while the Soviet Union
may have the United States on the
defensive, the opposite is true with
respect to its relations with the
Vatican. "Catholic reviva! worries
Moscow," headlined the January 7,
1983,
Financia/ Times
of London.
The article reported that the "So–
viet concern about the Catholic
resurgence within Eastern Europe
is becoming irrepressible."
The Pope's " Vision for Europe"
Perhaps most disturbing of all to
Moscow is Pope John Paul's con–
tinua) calls for the "spiritual unity"
of Europe.
This theme, which he stressed
much on his visit to Poland in 1979,
was repeated on his recent 10-day
visit to Spain. The Pope culminated
his trip with an address he labeled a
" Declaration to Europe."
In this speech at the city of
Santiago de Compostela, the Pope
issued an impassioned appeal for
all Europeans in both the East and
West, to discover "your origins.
4
Give life to your roots."
Of course, he was speaking of
Europe's Catholic heritage. Henry
Kamm of the New York
Times,
in
his Nov. 1
O
column, described the
activities of the final day of the
Pope's Spanish tour:
"At the final destination of his
10-day pilgrimage to Spain ... the
pope celebrated what he called a
'European act.' ...
" He said :
'1,
John Paul, a son of
the Polish nation that has always
considered itself European by its
origins, traditions, culture and vi tal
relations; Slav among Latins and
Latín among the Slavs.. ..
1,
bish–
op of Rome and pastor of the uni–
versal church, from Santiago issue
to you, old Europe, a cry full of
love: Find yourself. Be yourself.
Discover your origins.
Give /ife to
your roots'"
(emphasis ours) .
The Pope spoke in the presence
of Spain's King Juan Carlos
1,
rep–
resentatives of European organiza–
tions and universities especially
invited for the 'act' that was clearly
intended as the high point of the
papal tour.
" The Europe the pontiff de–
scribed was equivalent to Christian
Europe," continued Mr. Kamm.
" He said the history of the found–
ing of its nations 'coincides with
the penetration o f the gospel.'
European identity,
the pope de–
clared,
'is incomprehensible with–
out Christianity.'
. ..
" Oid Europe" between East
and West
Wri ting for
The Dai/y Telegraph
of London, Nov. 10, reporter
Michael Field added the following
points concerning the Pope's dra–
matic "European act" while on his
visit to Spain:
"The Pontiff pleaded for peace
in 'Old Europe. ' He offered the ser–
vices of the Roman Catbolic
Church as a mediator between East
and West.
"He issued the warning that the
Continent was facing a crisis of
economic, spiritual and political
upheaval and the threat of nuclear
holocaust.
"The solution, he said, lay in an
affirmation of Europe's Christian
heritage. Pilgrims who had come to
the Shrine of St. James in the Mid–
dle Ages had helped to make
Europe a homogeneous and spiri–
tually united Continent of Latín,
Germanic, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon
and Slav peoples. But now Europe
was in crisis, fractured by unnatu–
ral divisions [meaning the ideologi–
cal division into the capitalist West
and the communist East] that had
stopped its people from meeting
freely."
Near the end of his speech, the
Pope stressed that "Europe has still
in reserve incomparable human
energies capable of sustaining it in
this historie work toward a conti–
nental
renaissance. "
This vision of a new, yet ancient,
Europe, the very reviva! of the
Roman Empire, a new Europe to
transcend today's "artificial" politi–
cal boundaries, is what will soon
disturb Moscow more than any–
thing else.
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH