Word: churches
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...house arrest, imprison hundreds of priests and nuns, or confiscate scores of schools and convents. But last week all that was swept aside with a long-awaited, historic announcement. Resuming a "noble tradition of many centuries," the Holy See and Poland have re-established diplomatic relations, declared the official church communique, delicately omitting mention of less-than-noble events during the protracted ecclesiastical cold war with the nation's leaders that began...
...result of a decision by Pope John XXIII in the early 1960s to launch a friendlier policy toward the Communist world. The negotiations that led to last week's recognition of Poland's Communist regime began in 1974. Throughout, Warsaw was far more eager for progress than the church, especially with the election in 1978 of the Polish Pope John Paul II. After Solidarity was outlawed in 1982, the Polish government became desperate for Vatican ties in order to win support among its devoutly Catholic populace and enhance international esteem. John Paul, however, held back because the bishops in Poland...
...Polish bishops agreed to the diplomatic ties only because Poland's Parliament on May 17 passed laws allowing religious freedoms that are unprecedented in the Communist world. Dozens of new legal provisions now guarantee the rights of Catholicism and other faiths, encompassing such matters as the church's right to own property, build churches, publish freely and operate charities. The Polish church will also receive compensation for buildings the Communists seized in the 1950s, and members of the clergy are guaranteed pensions. Most observers believed the timing of the decision strongly signaled Pope John Paul's approval of the events...
...Polish hierarchy said last week that the improved relations "will open new spheres of activity for the church for the benefit of the whole society," as well as enhance Poland's international prestige. Warsaw's progovernment daily Zycie Warszawy declared in an editorial that the Vatican is obviously convinced that the changes within Poland are "permanent." In addition, said the newspaper, the diplomatic deal "is a confirmation of the range of reforms taking place not only in Poland but elsewhere in Eastern Europe...
SENIOR WRITERS: David Brand, Tom Callahan, Margaret Carlson, George J. Church, Richard Corliss, Otto Friedrich, Paul Gray, Robert Hughes, Walter Isaacson, Ed Magnuson, Lance Morrow, Bruce W. Nelan, Frederick Painton, Walter Shapiro, R.Z. Sheppard, Frank Trippett...