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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 1, 1983
PAGE 16
forget that the church in Poland has always expressed the true
spirit of this nation."
Journalist Pick, in her June 20 column in THE GUARDIAN observed who is the
"King" and the "Queen" of Poland.
The icon of the Black Madonna at Jasna Gora is worshipped by
Polish Catholics--which 1s to say almost the whole nation sees
her as a unique symbol of the victory of good over evil, as the
Mother of Love and the defender of freedom. She is regarded�
Poland's perpetual Queen. It is fair to say that the pope now
comes close to being seen by his countrymen as the natlori's""tem
porary king....
General Jaruzelski who is now the ruler of "People's Poland" can
have no doubt who--the pope--and what--Roman Catholicism of a
most fundamentalist nature--are the true power centres in this
country. If he is uncomfortable as he watches the pope's pro
gress, Mr. Andropov in the Kremlin must feel even more frus
trated.
The Kremlin is caught in a dilemma. The pope didn't preach revolution,
exactly. He urged instead a dialogue between the government and the people
(whose moral leader is the church). Now the pope "offers" to help Poland
out of its financial straits.
Certainly a financially-strapped Soviet
Union can't do this.
So how can Mr. Andropov react ·negatively to such
peaceable overtures?
The pope thus seems to be pursuing both short-term and long-term goals.
Regarding the former, it is to elevate the state of the church to that of
co-rulership in Poland, to fully participate in the political and economic
spheres of th'e'"°country to help relieve the dispirited people's fortunes.
In the long term, such increased authority for the church just might result
in prying Poland (and other Eastern European countries) out of the Soviet
sphere altogether.
This, of course, would also necessitate "cutting a
deal"--a much bigger one--not with the Polish governritent, but with the
Soviets-:-
In order to give its approval, Moscow would demand the neutralization of
Western Europe, forcing it to cut ties to the United States. Under such an
arrangement West Germany would be able to finally reunite with East Germany
since the latter would be geographically cut off from Moscow any way if
Poland were set free. And a reunited Germany would be, hands down, the
political dynamo of a new Europe.
Truly awesome forces have been set in motion by the pope's second visit to
Poland.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau