PAPAL VISIT
Before Pope John Paul II's visit, foreign and Polish journalists maintained he was going to a divided country. His pilgrimage proved the speculation wrong: Everybody, not just devout Catholics, listened carefully to his words.
"The wall dividing Europe has collapsed," he said in Gniezno-Poland's first capital-on June 3. "Fifty years after the outbreak of World War II, its effects have ceased to furrow the face of our continent." Gniezno was one of the three most important towns in the pope's 11-day pilgrimage (the other two were Wrocław and Cracow).
A mass marking the 1,000th anniversary of the death of St. Adalbert-patron saint of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, regarded as the patron saint of a uniting Europe-was attended by the presidents of seven countries St. Adalbert was connected with: Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, Algirdas Brazauskas of Lithuania, Roman Herzog of Germany, Michal Kovac of Slovakia, Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine, Arpad Gncz of Hungary and Aleksander Kwa¶niewski of Poland.
The pope recalled the words he had spoken during his first pilgrimage in 1979-that it was a Polish, Slavic pope who had the chance to unveil Europe's spiritual unity, composed of two traditions: East and West. Eighteen years later, in the same place, he thanked God for "the great gift of freedom that the nations of Europe have received."
"Regaining the right to self-determination by extending political and economic freedom is not enough to reconstruct European unity-a fact that sometimes becomes apparent in a very painful way," the pope said. "After the collapse of one wall-the visible one-another, invisible, wall has become more evident. It is a wall that divides our continent and runs through human hearts. It is built by fear and aggression, lack of understanding for people with different-colored skin and religious convictions; a wall built by political and economic egoism and by a weakening of sensitivity to the value of human life and individual dignity." He added that there was still a long way to go before true unification of the European continent.
"The framework of Europe's identity is built upon Christianity," said the pope. "Its present lack of spiritual unity stems mainly from a crisis of this Christian self-awareness." He called on people to "open the doors" to Christ because the wall dividing Europe would not collapse without a return to the Gospel.
During his meeting with the presidents, the pope said no country-not even a weaker one-could remain outside the commonwealth currently being established.
The day before this meeting, the pope was in Legnica. At an airport formerly used by Soviet troops, he called on people to build social justice and proper relations between workers and employers.
"Human labor must not be regarded merely as a force necessary for production," he said, as the crowd warmly applauded. "Man must not be seen as an instrument of production. Man creates and initiates work. We must do everything to ensure that work does not lose its proper dignity. We must not forget that it is work that serves man, and not man who serves work."
The pope referred to the poor and the unemployed who lost their jobs because of economic transformations. He said it was the duty of those in power to manage a country's economy so that these painful manifestations of societal life found proper solutions. He also criticized some methods of employment and spoke bluntly of "exploitation."
"On many occasions, exploitation manifests itself in such a way that a worker is deprived of the right to rest and take care of his family's spiritual life," said the pope. "It is also often linked to unjust earnings and neglect in the area of social insurance and health care."
John Paul II waited until the fifth day of his pilgrimage to criticize abortion rights. During mass in Kalisz, he quoted Mother Theresa of Calcutta, who has said that abortion is the greatest danger to peace today. He repeated the words he spoke last year after the Sejm approved a law allowing abortion for social reasons. "A nation that kills its children becomes a nation of the past," he said. "It isn't easy for me to say that about Poland, because I want it to have a great future."
In Kalisz, the pope spoke about the history of Polish-Jewish relations, noting the many Jewish cemeteries in Poland. "May these sites unite Poles and Jews, because we are waiting for the Day of Judgement and Resurrection together."
During his visit, the pope paid homage to women-the Virgin Mary, those whom he beatified and those alive today. "How we need a woman's genius, so that today's world will appreciate the value of human life, responsibility and faithfulness and preserves a respect for human dignity," he said during the beatification of two nuns in Zakopane-Maria Bernardyna Jabłońska and Maria Karłowska.
The pope devoted a great deal of attention to families, giving assurances that it was parents who had the right and obligation to bring up their children in accordance with their convictions and that this right could not be taken over by institutions.
Wherever the pope went, crowds gathered, but no place attracted as many people as Cracow. At least 1.5 million people attended mass on June 8 in the city's Błonie park, during which Jadwiga-a Polish queen living in the late 14th century, who founded the Faculty of Theology at Cracow's Jagiellonian University-was canonized. John Paul II held her up as a model for the present day. "She knew that the strength of both the country and the church lay in the painstaking education of the nation," he said.
After mass, during lunch, the pope addressed the bishops, pointing out that it was necessary to help lay people develop political ideas, economic life and culture in accordance with the Gospel.
In the afternoon, the pope attended a ceremony marking the 600th anniversary of the Jagiellonian University's Faculty of Theology, at which he met the university's presidents and representatives from the worlds of academia and culture. He spoke of the enormous role played by science and the need to ask questions-but also of the dangers arising from areas like genetic engineering.
The meeting provided an opportunity for personal reminiscences. Karol Wojtyła was both a student and lecturer at the Faculty of Theology.
Highlanders gave the pope the warmest and most moving welcome of all. Zakopane Mayor Adam Bachleda-Curu¶ paid tribute to him on behalf of all Polish highlanders. "Thank you for getting us out from under the yoke of red slavery," he said. "Now you are teaching us to clear our fatherland's house of everything that brings shame, destruction, slavery and ruin."
When the pope left the Polish mountains, the crowd sang Góralu, czy ci nie żal (Highlander, Aren't You Sorry?)-a traditional song about a highlander who leaves his ancestors' mountain pastures.
Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, the Polish episcopate's secretary, said people should not think this was the pope's final pilgrimage to his home country.
Anita Szarlik
(Pages 16-17: Friends of a young Karol Wojtyła's remember him)
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