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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 1, 1983
PAGE 14
ment and the church for creation-of a "fund for agriculture" to
aid Poland's independent farmers. The foundation, to be estab
lished here, would use money raised by churches in Western
Europe, the United States and Canada to buy machinery, seed, and
other means of agricultural production either unavailable or in
short supply in Poland....
Jaruzelski agreed in principle to the plan during a meeting June
6 with Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the Roman Catholic primate of Po
land.... [Government] officials reportedly [at first] objected to
such a large amount of money being funneled-"fhrough a Polish in
stTtution not under their direct control. It 1s understood that
the government will be represented in the proposed agricultural
foundation, but that it will be in the minority.
In an opinion piece written for the June 29 LOS ANGELES TIMES, Bohdan R.
Bociurkiw, a political science professor in Canada, observed who the real
winner was in this round of the church-state struggle in Poland:
The main beneficiary of the visit is likely to be the Roman
cafhc5ITcChurch of Polarui.� persuaaed the government to accept
the risks that would be associated with a second visit by the
pope, and demonstrated its capacity to mobilize and manage huge
masses of people while minimizing the opportunities for violent
confrontations with the police and the military....
The pope, on the strength of his immense authority and popular
ity, has prepared the ground for a major compromise between the
church and the state. This would involve the lifting of martial
law and the granting of some concessions to the arrested and
hunted leaders of Solidarity. These steps would be offered in
return for greater church involvement in the resolution of the
state's pol1t1cal, economic and d1plomatTc"'"'problems.
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The loser in this historical compromise may very well be Solidar
ity. It could possibly be replaced by church-controlled Catholic
trade unions that would co-exist with the unpopular state-con
trolled unions.... Lech Walesa may need to be replaced with
another moderate, but more decisive leader who is less closely
associated with the 1980-81 triumphs that were enjoyed by
Solidarity.
In its lead article, THE ECONOMIST (June 25) discussed the impact of the
pope's "religious" message in Poland.
The pope did not call on the Poles to revolt. He knows that, 18
months after the suppression of Solidarity, they are still
stunned by dismay: the next round of the Polish struggle may be
some time in the future. And revolt is not the business of men of
God. But he did call on the Poles to resist, in terms which make
it likely that the next round of that struggle will come sooner
than it would otherwise have done. In sermon after sermon, he
hammered home the argument that thestructure of pol1tics In
Poland has to be changed.... -- --
Until the Polish government talks to the Polish people, as it
promised to do in the 1980 compact with Solidarity which was