Word: gierek
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Actual coverage conformed closely to the plan. On June 4, for example, Poland's morning dailies all had virtually the same story of the Pope's arrival at the same place on the front page with the same photograph of the prelate meeting Party First Secretary Edward Gierek. But the scheme to assign Polish journalists to keep troublesome Western counterparts in line was evidently not used; though many of the Poles covering the Pope wrote little, there were no reports of overt propagandizing. Polish state television was not given specific instructions in the memo, but one cameraman admitted...
Even before his welcoming Mass in Warsaw, John Paul issued his first challenge to the Polish regime. It was presented in the guise of a formal greeting to Party Secretary Gierek. "It is [the church's] mission to make man more confident, more courageous, conscious of his rights and duties, socially responsible, creative and useful. For this activity the church does not desire privileges, but only and exclusively what is essential for the accomplishment of its mission...
...most Communist countries, but the Pope and his bishops want fundamental guarantees: freedom to publish books and periodicals, to broadcast, to build churches and name bishops without interference, the opportunity for Christians to earn jobs and degrees and educate their children in the faith without discrimination. The Pope told Gierek that church-state détente in Poland could be "one of the elements in the ethical and international order in Europe and the modern world, an order that flows from respect for the rights of the nation and for human rights...
...Russians, which complicate any prediction of the future and any estimate of what John Paul's visit may achieve. What will happen now? Will the visit stir even more nationalistic fervor in Poland and elsewhere and eventually help weaken the hold of the Soviet Union? Will the Soviets pressure Gierek because he indulged the Pope in his desire to visit? Will the Warsaw government feel the need to reassert itself by cracking down on Catholicism...
...Polish spectacle, TIME Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Barry Kalb reports that the Pope's visit is unlikely to produce any dramatic result. The Kremlin reluctantly recognizes that the Polish government needs Catholic support and that it could not indefinitely avoid a visit by the most celebrated Pole since Copernicus. Gierek has gradually improved relations with the church and, since that policy has strengthened his regime and his nation...