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Behindthe
Pope's
SPIRITUAL OFFENSIVE
•
lll
Eastern Europe
by
Gene H. Hogberg
Few comprehend the long-term objectives of Pope John Paul 11 with regard
to Poland and all of Eastern-and Western-Europe.
T
HERE IS
no
doubt about it
now. As a re–
sult of his dra–
matic trip to his Polish
homeland last June,
Pope John Paul
11
is
firmly established as
the most charismatic
leader in the Western
world.
The televised spectacle
of his performance before
mi llions of Poles over
eight days elevated the
Pope, said one American
newsman, to the status of
a "spiritual superpower."
Once again the Polish–
born Pope showed his capac–
ity to speak out with bold–
ness-but with canny políti–
ca! caution at the same
time.
zelski in Warsaw that Poland
had a right to "her proper
place among the nations of
Europe,
between the East
and the West."
He reminded
General Jaruzelski that Pope
Paul V1 had stated that "Po–
land has a right to sovereign
existence."
On Sunday, June 19, the
Pope returned powerfully to
the " Poland is sovereign"
theme. On this day, the offi–
cial highpoint of the trip,
the Pope celebrated mass at
the 600-year-old monastery
of Jasna Gora in Czestocho–
wa, site of Poland's most
venerable shrine, the Black
Madonna icon.
At no time, despite criti–
cism from Polish Commu–
nist authorities that his mes–
"As children of God, we
cannot be slaves," the Pon–
tiff told a million Poles
standing before him in a
driving rain. "The nation
has a
right
to live in free–
dom. This ... means the
right to decide for oneself as
a community, determined
Pope John Paul 11 waves to crowd at Czestochowa,
main stop on bis recent tour of Poland.
by a unity of culture, lan–
guage and history."
sages were becoming "too polit–
ical," did the Pope preach revolu–
tion. Yet the Pontiff was unmistak–
ably clear in speaking out on what
October 1983
he felt were the " sovereign rights"
of the Polish people.
On day two of bis visit, the Pontiff
told Prime Minister Wojciech J aru-
Polish society, declared the
Pope, has a
"strict right
to what–
ever ensures its own unique identi-
3