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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 1, 1983
PAGE 15
broken by martial law in 1981, "it is like a state of war"
{Warsaw, June 17th}. The Poles have an inherent right to free
trade unions which the state must respect {Katowice, June
20th}.... A state is not fully sovereign unless it
II
serves the
common good" {June 19th}. "Polish culture is, above all, that of
Western Europe" {Poznan, June 20th}, and
II
the arrogant use of
power" has to be denounced {Cracow, June 22nd}.
The Vatican press officer who said that all this was about
religion and morals, not poITtic�madethepope se�like a
Wimbledonciliainpion whoarrives on court explaining that he is
there to exercise his muscles, not play tennis.... The church in
Poland has long thought of itself as the voice of the nation, the
only alternatTve centre of authoiTty to a dictatorial regime.
That role, which it played with much success for three decades
from the Communist seizure of power through to the end of the
1970s, was challenged by the birth of Solidarity--a rival voice
of the nation--in 1980::-:.""tflle pope recognizes that an even more
important issue than the church's role is at stake. That issue
is the future of Poland and, perhaps, of some of the other
Soviet-controlled countries of Eastern Europe....
If he has advanced the next test of wills, he has also increased
the Soviet Union's problem in Eastern Europe.
A measure of
pluralism in Poland [meaning shared authority, in this case be
tween state and church] would ripple over into other parts of the
region.
If to American minds El Salvador starts a train of
thought that leads to Mexico, Poland points to an even bigger
barrel or-gunpowder tor the Russians.
� �
Hella Pick, who covered the pope's trip on-the-spot for the British
newspaper THE GUARDIAN, took special note in the paper's June 24 edition,
of the political shrewdness of John Paul II:
The visit has shown that a large part of the Polish nation re
gards the pope as its natural moral leader. Also, despite the
Vatican's protestations, it is evident that the pope expects the
Church to play a major political role--in sharp contrast to the
views h�has"e°xpressed about political activism amongst priests
in Latin America.
The pope...demonstrated--to the sorrow and anger of Poland's
rulers and the Kremlin's for the second time in four years--that
he commands the trust and confidence of the Polish nation in a
way that no other living Pole can even remotely approach....
Certainly, it [ the papal trip] was not an overt anti-Communist
crusade.
Tne pope is far too subtie':'""" .. -
.-
Couched in Christian
ethics, lacedwith quotatTonsfrom the Scriptures, and with many
examples of Polish valour agaTnst"""lts oppressors throughout
history, the pope scored many direct political points....
One man who followed the pope's progress around the country
summed up the feelings of multitudes:
"The pope has raised
spirits and people now know that a man of his moral authority is
with us. This will give us.new strength. Of course nobody is so
naive as to think that anything will change overnight. But even
though he has gone, the pope's words will remain with us. Never