Basic HTML Version
ty." He then explained what cons ti–
tutes Poland's uniqueness. "Aftcr
1,000 years of historie exper ience,
this nation has its own life, its cul –
ture, social traditions and
spiritual
identity."
Catholicism is completely bound
up with the culture of Poland and
gives the nation its "spiritual identi–
ty." T o be a Pole is to
be
a Roman
Catholic. Poland has been Catholic
tic upnsmg in 1863. The two
heroes, said thc Pope, started "on
the path to holincss" by joining the
upn smg.
" Dea l" Struc k with Government
Given the Popc's bold statements
regarding Poland's distinct national
idcntity, the immediate outcome of
the papal trip surprised not a fcw
observers.
Communist authorities? Firs t of
all, the two sides agreed to establish
a church-funded foundation to
channel mi llions of Western dollars
into loans and grants to boost the
depressed Polish cconomy, especial–
ly agr iculture.
Another agreement that arose
from the Pope 's trip, Yatican
sources admit t ed, was that the
church would work with the gov-
ernment to create 'a new
tradc union founded along
the lines of Solidarity, but
most probably with a dif–
ferent name and led by
somcone other than Mr.
Walesa, with whom the
Polish government re–
fuses to deal.
Regarding the first,
~
and perhaps major, facet
of the arrangement , the
!
country·s Communi st
rulers have agreed in prin–
~
ciple on an unprecedented
~
church-controll ed founda–
~
-1 tion to channel a mini-
~
mum of $2 billion worth
2
of Wcstcrn equipment
~
and supplies to Poli sh
The Pope twice conferred with Poland's Prime Minjster Wojciech J a ruzelski, photo left. The
Church apparently agreed with the government on severa! key issues, including
farmers. The existence of
such a foundation. con–
trollcd by an agency out–
sidc of the governmcnt , is
believed to be a firs t in
tha t of es tablishing a new labor union to repla ce the banned Solidarity organi zation.
for more than a millennium, Com–
munist (in vencer form only) for
but 38 years.
So, while the Communist gov–
ernment complained of political
meddling, the Pope justifiably
claimed his words were religious
and pastoral in nature, since
Poland's Catholic religion and cul–
tural heritage are really one and thc
same. Where, in the case of Poland,
does religion lcavc off and politics
bcgin?
Two ceremonics conduct ed by
the Pope on the last stop of his trip
represented another bold assertion
of Poland's national identit}
In the Krakow suburb of Nowa
Huta, J ohn Paul consccrated a sec–
ond church built by parishioners.
Nowa Huta, a steel town, had becn
des igned after World War 11 as a
model communist community with–
out churches.
And in Krakow, the Pope beati–
fied two Polcs who fought the Rus–
sians in an unsuccessful nationalis-
4
The day aftcr the trip ended, the
broad outlines of a compromise
package between the Yatican and
Poland's Communist government
began to emerge.
The two mectings between the
Pope and Prime Minister J aruzclski
and the more important high-lcvcl
Yatican-Warsaw ncgotiations un–
dertaken weeks, and in sorne cases
months before the Pope·s trip, laid
the foundation.
As a resul t , the Solidarity labor
union movemcnt, though publicly
praised by thc Pope, has been left to
wither on the vine, along with its
charismatic leader, Lecb Walesa.
The church, which had been
eclipsed as thc mo ral force in
Poland by the meteoric rise of Soli–
darity, is once more back in t he sad–
dle- "thc only alternative centre of
authority to a dictatorial regime,"
reported the J une 25 lead editorial
in
The Economisr
of Britain.
What was the deal reachcd
between the Yatican and Poland's
any Soviet bloc country.
Hella Pick , who covered the
Pope·s trip for the British newspa–
pcr
The Guardian.
took note in that
paper's J une 24 edition of the Cath–
olic Church 's growing pol itical
role-and of the Pope's political
as tuteness :
"The visit has shown that a large
part of the Polish nation regards the
pope as its natural moral lcader.
Also, despitc the Yatican's protesta–
tions, it is cvident that
the pope
expects the Church to play a major
polirical role- in
sharp contrast to
the views he has expressed about
political activism among priests in
Latin America."
The papal trip. continued Ms.
Pick, "was not an overt anti-Com–
munist crusade. T he pope is far too
subtle.... Couched in Christian
ethics, laced with q uotations from
the Scriptures, and with many
examples of Polish valour against its
oppressors throughout history, the
(Continued on page 39)
The
PLAIN TRUTH