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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JUNE 27, 1983
PAGE 6
When I first turned on the TV, I wondered if I had the right pro
gram. Then
I
thought I saw Mr. Armstrong. I was interested that
it was taking place at a law university because all three of my
children are lawyers.
Mr. Armstrong spoke about. law in the
Bible. I was also interested in what he said about his father
calling him a "Philadelphia lawyer."
I watch Mr. Armstrong regularly--every Saturday morning.
He is
the only preacher that I listen to!
M.K. (St. Paul, MN)
--Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
ON THE WORLD SCENE
"SUPERPOWER" POPE PLEADS FOR A FREE POLAND AND CHRISTIAN UNITY There's no
doubt about 1t now. As a result of his dramatic trip to his Polish home
land, Pope John Paul II is firmly established as the most charismatic
leader in the Western world. The televised spectacle of his performance
over eight days elevated the pope, said NBC's Marvin Kalb, to the status of
a •spiritual superpower."
To the dismay of Poland's communist authorities, the pope drew enormous
crowds at every stop during his sojourn--one million here, a million-and-a
half there and, incredibly, over two million in the city of Krakow, the last
stop. It is estimated that. nearly half of Poland's 36 million people saw
the pope personally, either at masses -0r in papal processions.
From the very beginning of his trip it was obvious that the government �f
Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski had gravely underestimated the impact
that the visit would have. As the trip progressed the pope tossed aside
mounting criticisms from the authorities that his messages had become too
political.
The pope daily grew bolder in his support for the outlawed
Solidarity labor union which was the political germ of a free Poland. He at
first used the Polish word, solidarnosc, in a general sense. Then finally,
from the fifth day onward, he referred to the union (as well as its agri
cultural counterpart, Rural Solidarity) in name openly.
John Paul also had a lot to say about the current and future position of
Poland in the European balance-of-power.
On day two of his visit, the
pontiff told Prime Minister Jaruzelski in Wars-aw that Poland had a right to
nher proper place among the nations of Europe, between the� and the
West." He reminded General Jaruzelski that Pope Paul VI had stated that
"Poland has a right to sovereign existence."
On Sunday, June 19, the pope returned powerfully to the "Poland is sover
eign" theme. On this day, the official highpoint of the trip, the pope
celebrated mass at the 600-year-old monastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa
(pronounced, roughly, "Chesstahova"), site of Poland's most venerable
shrine, the Black Madonna icon. In his homily, John Paul all but called for
a free Poland, independent of the communist bloc.
"As children of God, we cannot be slaves," the pontiff told a million Poles
standing before him in a driving rain. "The nation has a right to live in
freedom. This is one of the fundamental rights in the moral order. The
right to live in freedom means the right to decide for oneself as a commun
ity, determined by a unity of culture, language and history." The pope