Word: walesa
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...Walesa suddenly finds himself following his movement instead of leading...
...failed to carry out a number of promises contained in the historic agreements signed last summer not only in Gdansk, but also in Szczecin and Jastrzebie. Among them were pledges to increase Solidarity's access to the press, free political prisoners and reduce censorship. As Union Leader Lech Walesa put it to a throng of followers last week: "Let's not fight for local goals. Let's fight for wider goals. We will not go back one step...
...historic meeting of the two men, each in his own way a symbol of freedom to the Polish people, was marked by its simplicity. Approaching the Pope at the threshold of the papal library, Walesa dropped to his knees, kissed the papal ring and bowed his head. A devout Catholic who tries to attend Mass daily, Walesa at first resisted when the Pope tried to lift him from his knees. John Paul then ushered the union leader into the library for a half-hour private chat. One presumed topic of their conversation: how to keep the itchier members of Walesa...
From its beginning, Walesa's independent trade union movement and the Polish Catholic Church have benefited from each other's support. But the church has taken a consistently conciliatory line toward the Communist government of Party Chief Stanislaw Kania, a fact that has irritated Solidarity's militants. The Pope last week seemed intent on soothing the ruffled workers and enhancing Walesa's stature. Observing that his visitor spoke extemporaneously in his public remarks after their library talk, the Pope held up his own carefully prepared notes and joked: "Mr. Walesa is a young...
Then John Paul gave his unqualified support to the free trade union movement. "I wish to assure you," he told Walesa, "that during your difficulties I have been with you in a special way, above all through prayer, but also in every way discreetly possible." He called the creation of Solidarity "an event of great importance" and asserted that the right to form free associations is "one of the fundamental human rights." However, the Pontiff also counseled moderation, and praised the workers for their maturity "against the background of terror . . . which does not spare the lives of innocent...