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NEWS ÜVERVIEW
Pope Calls
for European
Unity
W
hy lly into a hornet's
nest? Pope John Paul
11
well knew that his journey
through Holland would stir
up old and bitter
antagonisms. Risks were
there. Greater divisiveness
in the Dutch church could
well have been the net
result.
Said
The Spectator
in its
sum-up article, " For the
first time, the Pope seems
to have failed to carry a
country with him by the
force of his personality."
The Pope was under
pressure in Holland. Yet
one has lo admit he did
not flinch. He came down
as hard as ever in support
ot
traditional Catholic
teaching. He defended his
Dutch appointees without
apology.
October 1985
But why stir up a
hornet's nest in the first
place? Why take risks?
Why not confine the trip
to the more friendly climes
of Belgium and
Luxembourg?
The answer is that the
Pope is on the offensive in
Europe. He has greater
purposes in mind than
Dutch church unity. He has
an overall plan-and
Holland is only one link in
a long " Eurochain."
For decades the Catholic
Church has been quiescent
in Europe. lt has followed
European events-not led
them. The reign of John
Paul
JI
has changed all
that.
A number of leading
Catholic writers and
journalists collaborated on a
book titled
The Pope From
Poland.
lt was written under
the aegis of
The Sunday
Times
in London. The
authors of this book
pointed out that even when
The Pope visits Holland: an
overall plan to unite the
whole ofEurope.
John Paulll is in Rome. ''He is
thinking of his next journey"
(page 250, Collins, London,
1980).
John Paul is a traveling
Pope. With a purpose! The
Pontiff has long-range goals
in mind. Catholic writers of
The Pope From Poland
put it in these terms: " The
most obvious way in which
John Paul 11 made an impact
on the international scene
was through the development
of a vigorous
Ostpolítik- the
whole complex web of
relations between the church
and those governments of
Eastern Europe which
between them control
the lives of some 60
million Catholics"
(page 250).
The Pope has been
presenting " a vision of a
wider Europe, culturally and
spiritually united"
Quakesand
Computers
A
ccording lo a Stanford
University study, if
northern California and
Silicon Valley were rocked
by an earthquake as strong
as the 1906 San Francisco
quake (about 8.3 on the
Richter scale) . the following
scenario would result:
Many older buildings
would be demolished, while
the interiors of newer
(page 251).
The political poker game
that began in Eastern Europe
with the Pope's first trip to
Poland in June 1979, soon
spread to include the West.
While in Spain in late 1982,
the Pope called for the unity
of the whole of Europe. He
deplores the present
division.
This year's Benelux trip
was no different. The Pope
repeated that same European
theme in Luxembourg, then in
Brussels- the main seat of
the Common Market.
Said John Paul 11: "The
borders set by treaties
cannot limit the
communication of men and
nations..Europeans cannot
submit themselves lo the
division of their
continent. ''
Papal pronouncements are
not without their importance
to politicians. lt is no time for
Europeans-or anyone-to
be sleeping.
Watch! •
structures would be cluttered
with broken glass and
shattered plaster. Water
mains and pipes in many