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“URGING THE PRESIDENT TO PRESENT THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM TO HIS HOLINESS, POPE JOHN PAUL II” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H11469-H11477 on Nov. 18, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
URGING THE PRESIDENT TO PRESENT THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM TO
HIS HOLINESS, POPE JOHN PAUL II
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res 313) to urge the President, on behalf of the United States, to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in recognition of his significant, enduring, and historic contributions to the causes of freedom, human dignity, and peace and to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of His Holiness' inauguration of his ministry as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 313
Whereas His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, the youngest of 3 children, born to Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska;
Whereas Pope John Paul II personally suffered and experienced deprivation from an early age, losing his mother, eldest brother, and father before turning age 21;
Whereas Pope John Paul II found comfort and strength in the example of his father's faith, who he observed ``after my mother's death, his life became one of constant prayer. Sometimes I would wake up during the night and find my father on his knees . . . his example was in a way my first seminary'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II was enrolled in Jagiellonian University in Cracow in 1939, which was closed by the Nazis during their occupation of Poland;
Whereas Pope John Paul II experienced the brutishness of a godless totalitarian regime, which sought to eradicate the history and culture of a proud people and sent many of his professors, friends, and millions of Polish Jews to camps where they were systematically murdered;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was himself arrested by Nazi occupation forces in 1942, but his life was spared because of his employment at a limestone quarry, work deemed essential to the war effort;
Whereas Pope John Paul II courageously defied the Nazi occupation forces, risking his own life to protect Polish Jews from persecution, helping to organize the underground
``Rhapsodic Theatre'', which he intended to be ``a theatre .
. . where the national spirit will burn'', writing two religious plays considered subversive to the Nazi regime, and enrolling in the clandestine seminary of Archbishop Sapieha of Cracow, where he studied religion, theology, and philosophy;
Whereas the Nazi occupation of Poland was ended only by the imposition of a communist era of occupation that sought to subjugate Polish citizens, extinguish Polish nationalism, and subjected the exercise of individual religious liberty to the control of godless Stalinist rulers;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was ordained in 1946, later becoming a Professor of Ethics and Chaplain at the Catholic University of Lublin, the only Catholic university behind the Iron Curtain, where he, again at great personal risk, initiated activities that helped to preserve the intellectual, cultural, and historical richness of his homeland and protected the integrity and independence of the Catholic Church in Poland;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was an articulate and outspoken advocate for religious freedom and Christian humanism at Vatican Council II, asserting that the Church could not claim religious liberty for itself unless it was willing to concede it to others;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, upon returning to his homeland, frequently cited the Council's declaration that religious freedom was ``the first of human rights'', a phrase embraced by Polish Catholics in their struggle against the hegemony of the communist regime;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, on October 16, 1978, was elected the 264th Pope, making history by becoming the first-ever Slavic Pope and the first non-Italian Pope in more than 400 years;
Whereas October 22, 2003, marked the Silver Jubilee of His Holiness' inauguration of his ministry as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church, signifying Pope John Paul II's completion of 25 years as the spiritual leader of more than 1,000,000,000 Catholic Christians around the world, including more than 66,000,000 Catholic Christians in the United States;
Whereas Pope John Paul II was a unique, substantial, and historic catalyst in the demise of Soviet communism and the emancipation of hundreds of millions of people from totalitarian rule;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, in his inaugural sermon, boldly offered hope to oppressed peoples around the world while causing authoritarian rulers to brace by proclaiming ``open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid.'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II returned to his native Poland for 9 days in June 1979, unleashing patriotic and religious forces that would ultimately lead to the peaceful toppling of the communist regime in Poland and the dramatic demise of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, before visiting his native Poland in 1987, met with President Ronald Reagan, who recognized the fruits of His Holiness' labors by stating ``be assured that the hearts of the American people are with you. Our prayers will go with you in profound hope that the terrible burden of brave people everywhere who yearn for freedom, even as all men and women yearn for the freedom that God gave us all. . . . We see the power of the spiritual force in that troubled land, uniting a people in hope, just as we see the powerful stirrings in the East of a belief that will not die despite generations of oppression. . . . For despite all the attempts to extinguish it, the people's faith burns with a passionate heat: once allowed to breathe free, that faith will burn so brightly it will light the world.'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II was recognized by Lady Margaret Thatcher to have ``provided the main impetus for the revival of Solidarity and the pressure for reform [in his native Poland]'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II was acknowledged by Mikhail Gorbachev to have played an essential role in the liberation of those who lived under European communism when he stated
``everything that happened in Eastern Europe . . . would have been impossible without this pope'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II carried on an active correspondence with world leaders during the 1980's, involving the Church in efforts to promote peace by reducing tensions, and exerting his moral authority to persuade the superpowers to engage in a ``dialogue'' that succeeded in reducing conventional and nuclear weapons and helped to avert a nuclear war;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has used public and private diplomacy and the power of moral suasion to encourage world leaders to respect the inalienable rights of the human person;
Whereas Pope John Paul II, on May 13, 1981, was shot by a would-be assassin, and nevertheless provided a remarkable example of the power of grace, later visiting his attacker in prison, and stating afterwards ``I spoke to him as I would speak to a brother whom I have forgiven and who enjoys my confidence'';
Whereas Pope John Paul II has ministered to Catholic and non-Catholic alike, providing a personal example of grace, endurance, compassion, courage, sacrifice, and foresight;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has sought to heal divisions between the Catholic Church and other Christian faiths, the Jewish faith, and Islam, expressing sadness and regret for the individual acts of present and former Catholics who persecuted members of other faiths, and promoting reconciliation and dialogue through the first-ever Papal visits to synagogues and mosques, as well as visits to areas of historic conflict, including Ireland and the Holy Land;
Whereas Pope John Paul II visited Cuba to speak directly to the Cuban people and their communist rulers in 1998, calling for political and religious freedom, the release of political prisoners, a recognition of the right to express one's faith
``in the context of public life'', and the importance of fundamental human dignities, including that ``each person enjoying freedom of expression, being free to undertake initiatives and make proposals within civil society, and enjoying appropriate freedom of association'' is a necessity;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has traveled farther than any other Pope in history, traversing nearly three quarters of a million miles, visiting more than 125 countries, including African nations never before visited by a Pope, being seen by more people than anyone in human history, and evangelizing to more than 6,000,000 people in the closing mass of World Youth Day '95 in the Philippines;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has changed the course of history, leading the Catholic Church through a dramatic and remarkable period, and into Christianity's third millennium;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has devoted his life to the amelioration of the human cost of terror and oppression through his dedication to truth, forgiveness, and the development of a vibrant public moral culture;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has articulated the importance of individual liberty being undergirded by a ``moral order'', has embraced the poor and oppressed masses of the world, and encouraged governments and the faithful to attend to the needs of those who are less fortunate;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has brought hope and inspiration to hundreds of millions of people around the world oppressed by tyranny, hunger, disease, and despair;
Whereas Pope John Paul II has worked tirelessly to bring peace to regions of the world that have been driven by strife, intolerance, hatred, and violence for far too long; and
Whereas the Presidential Medal of Freedom is considered the highest civilian award of the United States Government: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress urges the President, on behalf of the United States, to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in recognition of his significant, enduring, and historic contributions to the causes of freedom, human dignity, and peace and to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of His Holiness' inauguration of his ministry as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
{time} 2000
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 313, a resolution that urges the President on behalf of the United States to present the Presidential Medal of Honor to his Holiness, Pope John Paul II.
Pope John Paul II has been the Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church for 25 years and the spiritual leader to over one billion Catholic Christians all over the world including 66 million Catholic Christians in the United States alone. During this time he has been to more than 125 countries and traveled farther than any other Pope in history to advance the cause of the oppressed and the poor masses of the world, as well as to bring peace to all regions of the world. It is with great humility and great pride that I speak tonight in favor of this resolution that honors one of the greatest human rights advocates of our time.
Today my colleagues and I will be voting on a bill that will present this honor to Pope John Paul II in recognition of his profound contributions to the causes of human dignity, unity, peace and freedom. Since his historic election to his position in October of 1978 as the first Polish Pope, he has been a model of courage in the defense of the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the most persecuted and defenseless.
Pope John Paul II has stated throughout his life that it is possible to change the course of events once good will, trust in others, and cooperation between responsible partners are allowed to prevail.
Throughout his tenure, he has empowered many under communist rule by strengthening them spiritually and implanting his message to not be afraid. He has seen the unification of a once-divided Europe. He has called world leaders onto a higher level of accountability as he worked to provide solutions to the various problems which they faced. It is the Holy Father's belief that all people together, Jews, Christians, Muslim, Israelis, Arabs, believers and nonbelievers, must create and reinforce peace; and he has worked to make this ideal a reality.
As an ardent advocate of human rights for all, especially those suffering political and religious persecution, I join our Holy Father in his desire to see a world where all may live and work together in a spirit of peace, mutual respect, and solidarity and where the sanctity of human life is preserved on all levels.
I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Pope John Paul II for his love and dedication to all people of the world and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of House Concurrent Resolution 313.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, despite failing health, Pope John Paul II has continued to travel around the world promoting the cause of peace. He has made over 102 journeys outside Italy to 123 countries and territories to spread peace and God's word. He has used his moral authority to challenge dictators in his fight for human rights and dignity.
Pope John Paul II has been one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. Until John Paul II, most Popes confined themselves to Rome and the surrounding area. They were often distant and unapproachable. But John Paul has revolutionized the papacy. The Pope is conservative and is a champion of long-standing Church traditions. He is also the most traveled Pope in history and a man of the world. He has brought much attention to his role of helping and encouraging the Church around the world.
John Paul was instrumental in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe for support for the Solidarity movement in Poland where he is a national hero. With the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the subsequent visit of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to Rome, the papacy reached a height of moral and political influence in the world. He has used that influence to further the cause of human rights so that people have the right not to be fearful, the right to be able to work and to practice their faith.
This resolution urges the President to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II for his contributions to the cause of freedom, human dignity and peace. He is certainly deserving of such an honor, and I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from the State of Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the sponsor of this important resolution.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida
(Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for yielding me time.
I rise to pay tribute to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, who in October marked his 25th year as bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church.
I also wish to offer my sincere appreciation to all my friends and colleagues in the House who have joined together to urge the President to present the Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II.
The celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Pope John Paul II pontificate is but the latest in the series of remarkable milestones that have characterized his life and his ministry.
From his birth on May 18, 1920, Karol Jozef Wojtyla's life has been intertwined with the fate of his native Poland and synonymous with the struggle for his individual freedom and dignity.
In 1978 when then-Cardinal Wojtyla, the Archbishop of Krakow, was elected Pope, the world was such a different place. For more than 3 decades since Winston Churchill delivered his famous ``Iron Curtain'' speech, people around the world prepared for what many regarded as the inevitable new war that would someday engulf the East and the West. To win the Cold War, geopolitical strategists honed and implemented various policies including the doctrines of attainment and mutual-
assured destruction.
At this pivotal moment in history when the status quo included the subjugation of half the populations of Europe and the omnipresent threat of nuclear annihilation, a remarkable and energetic new Pope set foot on the world stage. To many in the West, this new Polish Pope was an unknown entity. While we recognized immediately his energy, courage and leadership, these same qualities were reviewed with suspicion by some in the East, particularly the communist rulers in Poland.
Pope John Paul II's commitment to freedom, his affection for his native Poland, and the devotion of his countrymen to him were never more evident than the summer of 1980. That August, the Solidarity Workers Union, which Cardinal Wojtyla had nurtured and protected, organized a peaceful strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk.
With the Pope's portrait suddenly appearing everywhere and the admonition from his inaugural sermon, ``Do not be afraid,'' on the lips of the workers, his support and reassurance provided vital sustenance for the strikers and ignited a spiritual spark in their struggle to secure dignity and freedom. Ultimately, that spark would lead to the demise of Soviet communism and the liberation of hundreds of millions in Eastern and Central Europe. History has recorded the remarkable achievement of Pope John Paul II and his relentless advocacy in pursuit of individual dignity, freedom, and peace.
The Pope has not confined his efforts solely to the struggle against totalitarianism. He has engaged wherever people are downtrodden and oppressed.
Mr. Speaker, the Congress should pass House Concurrent Resolution 313 and urge the President to present the Medal of Freedom, our Nation's highest civilian award, to His Holiness.
In authorizing the first Medals of Freedom in 1963, President Kennedy proclaimed that persons who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors should be so recognized. By any measure it is apparent that there is no individual more deserving of this recognition than Pope John Paul II.
Two other recipients of the Medal of Freedom, President Ronald Reagan and Lady Margaret Thatcher, shared the Pope's commitment to Solidarity in the 1980s. In my estimation, their leadership changed the course of human history. In 1984, while welcoming the Pope to the United States, President Reagan spoke of the connection between freedom, the founding of our own Nation, and America's debt to His Holiness.
President Reagan stated, ``I can assure you, Your Holiness, that the American people seek to act as a force for peace in the world and to further the cause of human freedom and dignity. Indeed, in appreciation for the unalienable rights of every human being is the very concept that gave birth to this Nation. Few have understood better than our Nation's founding fathers that claims of human dignity transcend the claims of any government, and this transcendent right itself has a transcendent source.''
The President went on to state, ``To us, Your Holiness, the Holy See and your pastorate represent one of humanity's greatest moral and spiritual forces,'' and ``your words, your prayers and your example have made you, for those who suffer oppression or the violence of war, a source of solace, inspiration and hope.''
It is no exaggeration to recognize that this remarkable man has brought hope, comfort and faith to literally billions of people around the world during the course of his ministry.
Three weeks ago today I was honored to be joined by 30 Members of the House in introducing this resolution. Since that time we have gained additional support for which I am grateful, and I particularly appreciate the work of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and the Committee on Government Reform who reported our resolution to the floor in such a timely manner.
As stated previously, our bipartisan resolution calls upon the President on behalf of all the people of the United States to present the Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II as a sign of our gratitude for his significant, enduring, and historic contributions to the causes of freedom, human dignity, and peace. We urge the President to do so without delay.
Finally, I include an article by Carl Bernstein entitled ``The Holy Alliance,'' which appeared in the February 24, 1992, edition of Time, as well as an article by Father Robert A. Sirico entitled ``The Cold War's Magnificent Seven; Pope John Paul II; Awakener of the East,'' which was published in the winter 1992 edition of Policy Review.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would invoke President Reagan once more. When asked his assessment of the Pope before meeting him the first time, the President replied, ``He is an example of what so many people have always said about Christian and Judaic tradition, and that is, when really needed, God provides a man. And I think in Pope John Paul he did just that.''
Billions around the world are thankful that God has provided such a man.
The articles referred to are as follows:
The Holy Alliance
(By Carl Bernstein)
Only President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II were present in the Vatican Library on Monday, June 7, 1982. It was the first time the two had met, and they talked for 50 minutes. In the same wing of the papal apartments, Agostino Cardinal Casaroli and Archbishop Achille Silvestrini met with Secretary of State Alexander Haig and Judge William Clark, Reagan's National Security Adviser. Most of their discussion focused on Israel's invasion of Lebanon, then in its second day; Haig told them Prime Minister Menachem Begin had assured him that the invasion would not go farther than 25 miles inside Lebanon.
But Reagan and the Pope spent only a few minutes reviewing events in the Middle East. Instead they remained focused on a subject much closer to their heart: Poland and the Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe. In that meeting, Reagan and the Pope agreed to undertake a clandestine campaign to hasten the dissolution of the communist empire. Declares Richard Allen, Reagan's first National Security Adviser: ``This was one of the great secret alliances of all time.''
The operation was focused on Poland, the most populous of the Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe and the birthplace of John Paul II. Both the Pope and the President were convinced that Poland could be broken out of the Soviet orbit if the Vatican and the U.S. committed their resources to destabilizing the Polish government and keeping the outlawed Solidarity movement alive after the declaration of martial law in 1981.
Until Solidarity's legal status was restored in 1989 it flourished underground, supplied, nurtured and advised largely by the network established under the auspices of Reagan and John Paul II. Tons of equipment--fax machines (the first in Poland), printing presses, transmitters, telephones, shortwave radios, video cameras, photocopiers, telex machines, computers, word processors--were smuggled into Poland via channels established by priests and American agents and representatives of the AFL-CIO and European labor movements. Money for the banned union came from CIA funds, the National Endowment for Democracy, secret accounts in the Vatican and Western trade unions.
Lech Walesa and other leaders of Solidarity received strategic advice--often conveyed by priests or American and European labor experts working undercover in Poland--that reflected the thinking of the Vatican and the Reagan Administration. As the effectiveness of the resistance grew, the stream of information to the West about the internal decisions of the Polish government and the contents of Warsaw's communications with Moscow became a flood. The details came not only from priests but also from spies within the Polish government.
down with yalta
According to aides who shared their leaders' view of the world, Reagan and John Paul II refused to accept a fundamental political fact of their lifetimes: the division of Europe as mandated at Yalta and the communist dominance of Eastern Europe. A free, noncommunist Poland, they were convinced, would be a dagger to the heart of the Soviet empire; and if Poland became democratic, other East European states would follow.
``We both felt that a great mistake had been made at Yalta and something should be done,'' Reagan says today.
``Solidarity was the very weapon for bringing this about, because it was an organization of the laborers of Poland.'' Nothing quite like Solidarity had ever existed in Eastern Europe, Reagan notes, adding that the workers' union ``was contrary to anything the Soviets would want or the communists
[in Poland] would want.''
According to Solidarity leaders, Walesa and his lieutenants were aware that both Reagan and John Paul II were committed to Solidarity's survival, but they could only guess at the extent of the collaboration. ``Officially I didn't know the church was working with the U.S.,'' says Wojciech Adamiecki, the organizer and editor of underground Solidarity newspapers and now a counselor at the Polish embassy in Washington. ``We were told the Pope had warned the Soviets that if they entered Poland he would fly to Poland and stay with the Polish people. The church was of primary assistance. It was half open, half secret. Open as far as humanitarian aid--food, money, medicine, doctors' consultations held in churches, for instance--and secret as far as supporting political activities: distributing printing machines of all kinds, giving us a place for underground meetings, organizing special demonstrations.''
At their first meeting, Reagan and John Paul II discussed something else they had in common: both had survived assassination attempts only six weeks apart in 1981, and both believed God had saved them for a special mission. ``A close friend of Ronald Reagan's told me the President said, `Look how the evil forces were put in our way and how Providence intervened,' '' says Pio Cardinal Laghi, the former apostolic delegate to Washington. According to National Security Adviser Clark, the Pope and Reagan referred to the
``miraculous'' fact that they had survived. Clark said the men shared ``a unity of spiritual view and a unity of vision on the Soviet empire: that right or correctness would ultimately prevail in the divine plan.''
``Reagan came in with very simple and strongly held views,'' says Admiral Bobby Inman, former deputy director of the CIA. ``It is a valid point of view that he saw the collapse [of communism] coming and he pushed it--hard.'' During the first half of 1982, a five-part strategy emerged that was aimed at bringing about the collapse of the Soviet economy, fraying the ties that bound the U.S.S.R. to its client states in the Warsaw Pact and forcing reform inside the Soviet empire. Elements of that strategy included:
The U.S. defense buildup already under way, aimed at making it too costly for the Soviets to compete militarily with the U.S. Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative--Star Wars--became a centerpiece of the strategy.
Covert operations aimed at encouraging reform movements in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
Financial aid to Warsaw Pact nations calibrated to their willingness to protect human rights and undertake political and free-market reforms.
Economic isolation of the Soviet Union and the withholding of Western and Japanese technology from Moscow. The Administration focused on denying the U.S.S.R. what it had hoped would be its principal source of hard currency in the 21st century: profits from a transcontinental pipeline to supply natural gas to Western Europe. The 3,600-mile-long pipeline, stretching from Siberia to France, opened on time on Jan. 1, 1984, but on a far smaller scale than the Soviets had hoped.
Increased use of Radio Liberty, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe to transmit the Administration's messages to the people of Eastern Europe.
Yet in 1982 neither Reagan nor the Pope could anticipate the accession of a Soviet leader like Mikhail Gorbachev, the father of glasnost and perestroika; his efforts at reform unleashed powerful forces that spun out of his control and led to the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Washington-Vatican alliance ``didn't cause the fall of communism,'' observes a U.S. official familiar with the details of the plot to keep Solidarity alive. ``Like all great and lucky leaders, the Pope and the President exploited the forces of history to their own ends.''
the crackdown
The campaign by Washington and the Vatican to keep Solidarity alive began immediately after General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law on Dec. 13, 1981. In those dark hours, Poland's communications with the noncommunist world were cut; 6,000 leaders of Solidarity were detained; hundreds were charged with treason, subversion and counterrevolution; nine were killed; and the union was banned. But thousands of others went into hiding, many seeking protection in churches, rectories and with priests. Authorities took Walesa into custody and interned him in a remote hunting lodge.
Shortly after Polish security forces moved into the streets, Reagan called the Pope for his advice. At a service of meetings over the next few days, Reagan discussed his options. ``We had a massive row in the Cabinet and the National Security Council about putting together a menu of counteractions,'' former Secretary of State Haig recalls.
``They ranged from sanctions that would have been crushing in their impact on Poland to talking so tough that we would have risked creating another situation like Hungary in '56 or Czechoslovakia in '68.''
Haig dispatched Ambassador at Large Vernon Walters, a devout Roman Catholic, to meet with John Paul II. Walters arrived in Rome soon after, and met separately with the Pope and with Cardinal Casaroli, the Vatican secretary of state. Both sides agreed that Solidarity's flame must not be extinguished, that the Soviets must become the focus of an international campaign of isolation, and that the Polish government must be subjected to moral and limited economic pressure.
According to U.S. intelligence sources, the Pope had already advised Walcsa through church channels to keep his movement operating underground, and to pass the word to Solidarity's 10 million members not to go into the streets and risk provoking Warsaw Pact intervention or civil war with Polish security forces. Because the communists had cut the direct phone lines between Poland and the Vatican, John Paul II communicated with Jozef Cardinal Glemp in Warsaw via radio. He also dispatched his envoys to Poland to report on the situation. ``The Vatican's information was absolutely better and quicker than ours in every respect,'' says Haig.
``Though we had some excellent sources of our own, our information was taking too long to filter through the intelligence bureaucracy.''
In the first hours of the crisis, Reagan ordered that the Pope receive as quickly as possible relevant American intelligence, including information from a Polish Deputy Minister of Defense who was secretly reporting to the CIA. Washington also handed over to the Vatican reports and analysis from Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski, a senior member of the Polish general staff, who was a CIA informant until November 1981, when he had to be smuggled out of Poland after he warned that the Soviets were prepared to invade if the Polish government did not impose martial law. Kuklinski had issued a similar warning about a Soviet military action in late 1980, which led the outgoing Carter Administration to send secret messages to Leonid Brezhnev informing him that among the costs of an invasion would be the sale of sophisticated U.S. weapons to China. This time, Kuklinski reported to Washington, Brezhnev had grown more impatient, and a disastrous harvest at home meant that the Kremlin did not need mechanized army units to help bring in the crops and instead could spare them for an invasion. ``Anything that we knew that we thought the Pope would not be aware of, we certainly brought it to his attention,'' says Reagan.
``Immediately.''
the catholic team
The key Administration players were all devout Roman Catholics--CIA chief William Casey, Allen, Clark, Haig, Walters and William Wilson, Reagan's first ambassador to the Vatican. They regarded the U.S.-Vatican relationship as a holy alliance: the moral force of the Pope and the teachings of their church combined with their fierce anticommunism and their notion of American democracy. Yet the mission would have been impossible without the full support of Reagan, who believed fervently in both the benefits and the practical applications of Washington's relationship with the Vatican. One of his earliest goals as President, Reagan says, was to recognize the Vatican as a state ``and make them an ally.''
According to Admiral John Poindexter, the military assistant to the National Security Adviser when martial law was declared in Poland, Reagan was convinced that the communists had made a huge miscalculation: after allowing Solidarity to operate openly for 16 months before the crackdown, the Polish government would only alienate its countrymen by attempting to cripple the labor movement and, most important, would bring the powerful church into direct conflict with the Polish regime. ``I didn't think that this [the decision to impose martial law and crush Solidarity] could stand, because of the history of Poland and the religious aspect and all,'' Reagan says. Says Cardinal Casaroli: ``There was a real coincidence of interests between the U.S. and the Vatican.''
The major decisions on funneling aid to Solidarity and responding to the Polish and Soviet governments were made by Reagan, Casey and Clark, in consultation with John Paul II. ``Reagan understood these things quite well, including the covert side,'' says Richard Pipes, the conservative Polish-born scholar who headed the NSC's Soviet and East-European desks. ``The President talked about the evil of the Soviet system--not its people--and how we had to do everything possible to help these people in Solidarity who were struggling for freedom. People like Haig and Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige and James Baker [White House chief of staff at the time] thought it wasn't realistic. George Bush never said a word. I used to sit behind him, and I never knew what his opinions were. But Reagan really understood what was at stake.''
By most accounts, Casey stepped into the vacuum in the first days after the declaration of martial law in Poland and--as he did in Central America--became the principal policy architect. Meanwhile Pipes and the NSC staff began drafting proposals for sanctions. ``The object was to drain the Soviets and to lay blame for martial law at their doorstep,'' says Pipes. ``The sanctions were coordinated with Special Operations [the CIA division in charge of covert task forces], and the first objective was to keep Solidarity alive by supplying money, communications and equipment.''
``The church was trying to modulate the whole situation,'' explains one of the NSC officials who directed the effort to curtail the pipeline. ``They [church leaders] were in effect trying to create circumstances that would head off the serious threat of Soviet intervention while allowing us to get tougher and tougher; they were part and parcel of virtually all of our deliberations in terms of how we viewed the evolution of government-sponsored repression in Poland--whether it was lessening or getting worse, and how we should proceed.''
As for his conversations with Reagan about Poland, Clark says they were usually short. ``I don't think I ever had an in-depth, one-on-one, private conversation that existed for more than three minutes with him--on any subject. That might shock you. We had our own code of communication. I knew where he wanted to go on Poland. And that was to take it to its nth possibilities. The President and Casey and I discussed the situation on the ground in Poland constantly: covert operations; who was doing what, where, why and how; and the chances of success.'' According to Clark, he and Casey directed that the President's daily brief--the PDB, an intelligence summary prepared by the CIA--include a special supplement on secret operations and analysis in Poland.
The Pope himself, not only his deputies, met with American officials to assess events in Poland and the effectiveness of American actions and sent back messages--sometimes by letter, sometimes orally--to Reagan. On almost all his trips to Europe and the Middle East, Casey flew first to Rome, so that he could meet with John Paul II and exchange information. But the principal emissary between Washington and Rome remained Walters, a former deputy director of the CIA who worked easily with Casey. Walters met with the Pope perhaps a dozen times, according to Vatican sources. ``Walters was sent to and from the Vatican for the specific purpose of carrying messages between the Pope and the President,'' says former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Wilson. ``It wasn't supposed to be known that Walters was there. It wasn't all specifically geared to Poland; sometimes there were also discussions about Central America or the hostages in Lebanon.''
Often in the Reagan years, American covert operations
(including those in Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Angola) involved ``lethal assistance'' to insurgent forces: arms, mercenaries, military advisers and explosives. In Poland the Pope, the President and Casey embarked on the opposite path:
``What they had to do was let the natural forces already in place play this out and not get their fingerprints on it,'' explains a analyst. What emerges from the Reagan-Casey collaboration is a carefully calibrated operation whose scope was modest compared with other CIA activities. ``If Casey were around now, he'd be having some smiles,'' observes one of his reluctant admirers. ``In 1991 Reagan and Casey got the reordering of the world that they wanted.''
the secret directive
Less than three weeks before his meeting with the Pope in 1982, the President signed a secret national-security-decision directive (NSDD 32) that authorized a range of economic, diplomatic and covert measures to ``neutralize efforts of the U.S.S.R.'' to maintain its hold on Eastern Europe. In practical terms, the most important covert operations undertaken were those inside Poland. The primary purposes of NSDD 32 were to destabilize the Polish government through covert operations involving propaganda and organizational aid to Solidarity; the promotion of human rights, particularly those related to the right of worship and the Catholic Church; economic pressure; and diplomatic isolation of the communist regime. The document, citing the need to defend democratic reform efforts throughout the Soviet empire, also called for increasing propaganda and underground broadcasting operations in Eastern Europe, actions that Reagan's aides and dissidents in Eastern Europe believe were particularly helpful in chipping away at the notion of Soviet invincibility.
As Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, a member of the House Intelligence Committee from 1985 to 1990, who was apprised of some of the Administration's covert actions, observes, ``In Poland we did all of the things that are done in countries where you want to destabilize a communist government and strengthen resistance to that. We provided the supplies and technical assistance in terms of clandestine newspapers, broadcasting, propaganda, money, organizational help and advice. And working outward from Poland, the same kind of resistance was organized in the other communist countries of Europe.''
Among those who played a consulting role was Zbigniew Brzezinski, a native of Poland and President Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser. ``I got along very well with Casey,'' recalls Brzezinski. ``He was very flexible and very imaginative and not very bureaucratic; if something needed to be done, it was done. To sustain an underground effort takes a lot in terms of supplies, networks, etc., and this is why Solidarity wasn't crushed.''
On military questions, American intelligence was better than the Vatican's, but the church excelled in its evaluations of the political situation. And in understanding the mood of the people and communicating with the Solidarity leadership, the church was in an incomparable position. ``Our information about Poland was very well founded because the bishops were in continual contact with the Holy See and Solidarnosc,'' explains Cardinal Silvestrini, the Vatican's deputy secretary of state at that time. ``They informed us about prisoners, about the activities and needs of Solidarity groups and about the attitude and schisms in the government.'' All this information was communicated to the President or Casey.
``If you study the situation of Solidarity, you see they acted very cleverly, without pressing too much at the crucial moments, because they had guidance from the church,'' says one of the Pope's closest aides. ``Yes, there were times we restrained Solidarnosc. But Poland was a bomb that could explode--in the heart of communism, bordered by the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. Too much pressure, and the bomb would go off.''
casey's cappuccino
Meanwhile, in Washington a close relationship developed between Casey, Clark and Archbishop Laghi. ``Casey and I dropped into his [Laghi's] residence early mornings during critical times to gather his comments and counsel,'' says Clark. ``We'd have breakfast and coffee and discuss what was being done in Poland. I'd speak to him frequently on the phone, and he would be in touch with the Pope.'' Says Laghi:
``They liked good cappuccino. Occasionally we might talk about Central America or the church position on birth control. But usually the subject was Poland.''
``Almost everything having to do with Poland was handled outside of normal State Department channels and would go through Casey and Clark,'' says Robert McFarlane, who served as a deputy to both Clark and Haig and later as National Security Adviser to the President. ``I knew that they were meeting with Pio Laghi, and that Pio Laghi had been to see the President, but Clark would never tell me what the substance of the discussions was.''
On at least six occasions Laghi came to the White House and met with Clark or the President; each time, he entered the White House through the southwest gate in order to avoid reports. ``By keeping in such close touch, we did not cross lines,'' says Laghi. ``My role was primarily to facilitate meetings between Walters and the Holy Father. The Holy Father knew his people. It was a very complex situation--how to insist on human rights, on religious freedom, and keep Solidarity alive without provoking the communist authorities further. But I told Vernon, `Listen to the Holy Father. We have 2,000 years' experience at this.' ''
Though William Casey has been vilified for aspects of his tenure as CIA chief, there is no criticism of his instincts on Poland. ``Basically, he had a quiet confidence that the communists couldn't hold on, especially in Poland,'' says former Congressman Edward Derwinski, a Polish-speaking expert on Eastern Europe who counseled the Administration and met with Casey frequently. ``He was convinced the system was falling and doomed to collapse one way or another--and Poland was the force that would lead to the dam breaking. He demanded a constant [CIA] focus on Eastern Europe. It wasn't noticed, because other stories were more controversial and were perking at the moment--Nicaragua and Salvador.''
In Poland, Casey conducted the kind of old-style operation that he relished, something he might have done in his days at the Office of Strategic Services during World War II or in the early years of the CIA, when the democracies of Western Europe rose from the ashes of World War II. It was through Casey's contacts, his associates say, that elements of the Socialist International were organized on behalf of Solidarity--just as the Social Democratic parties of Western Europe had been used as an instrument of American policy by the CIA in helping to create anticommunist governments after the war. And this time the objective was akin to creating a Christian Democratic majority in Poland--with the church and the overwhelmingly Catholic membership of Solidarity as the dominant political force in a post communist Poland. Through his contacts with leaders of the Socialist International, including officials of socialist governments in France and Sweden, Casey ensured that tactical assistance was available on the continent and at sea to move goods into Poland. ``This wasn't about spending huge amounts of money,'' says Brzezinski. ``It was about getting the message out and resisting: books, communications equipment, propaganda, ink and printing presses.''
Look for the Union Label
In almost every city and town, underground newspapers and mimeographed bulletins appeared, challenging the state-controlled media. The church published its own newspapers. Solidarity missives, photocopied and mimeographed on American-supplied equipment, were tacked to church bulletin boards. Stenciled posters were boldly posted on police stations and government buildings and even on entrances to the state-controlled television center, where army officers broadcast the news.
The American embassy in Warsaw became the pivotal CIA station in the communist world and, by all accounts, the most effective. Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO, which had been the largest source of American support for Solidarity before martial law, regarded the Reagan Administration's approach as too slow and insufficiently confrontational with the Polish authorities. Nonetheless, according to intelligence sources, AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland and his aide Tom Kahn consulted frequently with Poindexter, Clark and other officials at the State Department and the NSC on such matters as how and when to move goods and supplies into Poland, identifying cities where Solidarity was in particular need of organizing assistance, and examining how Solidarity and the AFL-CIO might collaborate in the preparation of propaganda materials.
``Lane Kirkland deserves special credit,'' observes Derwinski. ``They don't like to admit [it], but they literally were in lockstep [with the Administration]. Also never forget that Bill Clark's wife is Czechoslovak, as is Lane Kirkland's wife. This is one issue where everybody was aboard; there were no turf fights or mavericks or naysayers.''
But AFL-CIO officials were never aware of the extent of clandestine U.S. assistance, or the Administration's reliance on the church for guidance regarding how hard to push Polish and Soviet authorities. Casey was wary of ``contaminating'' the American and European labor movements by giving them too many details of the Administration's efforts. And indeed this was not strictly a CIA operation. Rather, it was a blend of covert and overt, public policy and secret alliances. Casey recognized that in many instances the AFL-CIO was more imaginative than his own operatives in providing organizational assistance to Solidarity and smuggling equipment into the country. According to former deputy CIA director Inman, Casey decided that the American labor movement's relationship with Solidarity was so good that much of what the CIA needed could be financed and obtained through AFL-CIO channels. ``Financial support wasn't what they needed,'' says Inman. ``It was organization, and that was an infinitely better way to help them than through classic covert operations.''
The Solidarity office in Brussels became an international clearinghouse: for representatives of the Vatican, for CIA operatives, for the AFL-CIO, for representatives of the Socialist International, for the congressionally funded National Endowment for Democracy, which also worked closely with Casey. It was the place where Solidarity told its backers--some of whose real identities were unknown to Solidarity itself--what it needed, where goods and supplies and organizers could be most useful. Priests, couriers, labor organizers and intelligence operatives moved in and out of Poland with requests for aid and with detailed information on the situation inside the government and the underground. Food and clothing and money to pay fines of Solidarity leaders who were brought before Polish courts poured into the country. Inside Poland, a network of priests carried messages back and forth between the churches where many of Solidarity's leaders were in hiding.
In the summer of 1984, when the sanctions against Poland seemed to be hurting ordinary Poles and not the communists, Laghi traveled to Santa Barbara to meet with Reagan at the Western White House and urge that some of the sanctions be lifted. The Administration complied. At the same time, the White House, in close consultation with the Vatican, refused to ease its economic pressures on Moscow--denying technology, food and cultural exchanges as the price for continuing oppression in Poland.
Much of the equipment destined for Solidarity arrived in Poland by ship--often packed in mismarked containers sent from Denmark and Sweden, then unloaded at Gdansk and other ports by dockers secretly working with Solidarity. According to Administration officials, the socialist government of Sweden--and Swedish labor unions--played a crucial role in arranging the transshipment of goods to Poland. From the Polish docks, equipment moved to its destination in trucks and private cars driven by Solidarity sympathizers who often used churches and priests as their point of contact for deliveries and pickups.
``solidarity lives!''
``The Administration plugged into the church across the board,'' observes Derwinski, now Secretary of Veterans Affairs. ``Not just through the church hierarchy but through individual churches and bishops. Monsignor Bronislaw Dabrowski, a deputy to Cardinal Glemp, came to use often to tell us what was needed: he would meet with me, with Casey, the NSC and sometimes with Walters.'' John Cardinal Krol of Philadelphia, whose father was born in Poland, was the American churchman closest to the Pope. He frequently met with Casey to discuss support for Solidarity and covert operations, according to CIA sources and Derwinski. ``Krol hit it off very well with President Reagan and was a source of constant advice and contact,'' says Derwinski. ``Often he was the one Casey or Clark went to, the one who really understood the situation.''
By 1985 it was apparent that the Polish government's campaign to suppress Solidarity had failed. According to a report by Adrian Karatnycky, who helped organize the AFL-CIO's assistance to Solidarity, there were more than 400 underground periodicals appearing in Poland, some with a circulation that exceeded 30,000. Books and pamphlets challenging the authority of the communist government were printed by the thousands. Comic books for children recast Polish fables and legends, with Jaruzelski pictured as the villain, communism as the red dragon and Walesa as the heroic knight. In church basements and homes, millions of viewers watched documentary videos produced and screened on the equipment smuggled into the country.
With clandestine broadcasting equipment supplied by the CIA and the AFL-CIO, Solidarity regularly broke into the government's radio programming, often with the message
``Solidarity lives!'' or ``Resist!'' Armed with a transmitter supplied by the CIA through church channels, Solidarity interrupted television programming with both audio and visual messages, including calls for strikes and demonstrations.
``There was a great moment at the half time of the national soccer championship,'' says a Vatican official. ``Just as the whistle sounded for the half, a Solidarity Lives! banner went up on the screen and a tape came on calling for resistance. What was particularly ingenious was waiting for the half-time break; had the interruption come during actual soccer play, it could have alienated people.'' As Brzezinski sums it up,
``This was the first time that communist police suppression didn't succeed.''
``Nobody believed the collapse of communism would happen this fast or on this timetable,'' says a cardinal who is one of the Pope's closest aides. ``But in their first meeting, the holy Father and the President committed themselves and the institutions of the church and America to such a goal. And from that day, the focus was to bring it about in Poland.''
Step by reluctant step, the Soviets and the communist government of Poland bowed to the moral, economic and political pressure imposed by the Pope and the President. Jails were emptied, Walesa's trial on charges of slandering state officials was abandoned, the Polish communist party turned fratricidal, and the country's economy collapsed in a haze of strikes and demonstrations and sanctions.
On Feb. 19, 1987, after Warsaw had pledged to open a dialogue with the church, Reagan lifted U.S. sanctions. Four months later, Pope John Paul II was cheered by millions of his countrymen as he traveled across Poland demanding human rights and praising Solidarity. In July 1988, Gorbachev visited Warsaw and signaled Moscow's recognition that the government could not rule without Solidarity's cooperation. On April 5, 1989, the two sides signed agreements legalizing Solidarity and calling for open parliamentary elections in June. In December 1990, nine years after he was arrested and his labor union banned, Lech Walesa became President of Poland.
[Correction (Apr. 27, 1992): A short article accompanying our report on the cooperative effort of President Reagan and Pope John Paul II to assist Poland's Solidarity movement
[Cover, Feb. 24] incorrectly stated the U.S. position on financial aid for family planning in foreign countries. The U.S. announced in 1984 that it would withhold funds for abortion or coerced birth control--but not for all family planning.]
____
The Cold War's Magnificent Seven; Pope John Paul II; Awakener of the
East
(By Fr. Robert A. Sirico)
The victory of the Free World in the Cold War ranks with the victory of the Allies in World War II, the landing on the moon, and the spectacular advances in health and prosperity around most of the world as the most important achievement of mankind in this century. There were countless heroes in the defeat of Communism--among them the people of the former Soviet empire whose indomitable spirit ultimately triumphed over their enslavers, and the taxpayers of the Western alliance who spent trillions of dollars over more than 40 years to protect their countries and civilization from the Soviet threat. The West was also blessed by extraordinary leaders and moral voices who defined the nature of the conflict, galvanized the popular will to resist Communism, and created the institutions that led to eventual victory. Policy Review pays tribute here to seven of those leaders whose words and deeds were essential for the wonderful events of the last few years.
It was a nervous clique of geriatric Stalinists who watched from Moscow in 1979 as millions of Poles poured into the streets of Krakow to greet their native son Karol Wojtyla when he returned to them as Pope John Paul II. A political awareness dawned among these teeming masses when they saw in one another's boldness the impotence of the dictatorship that claimed dominance over their lives.
Nor were the only witnesses to these events Politburo members and Poles. Lithuanians and Ukrainians, Hungarians and Czechoslovakians also witnessed with astonishment the unfurling of Solidarity banners in a Communist nation.
Perhaps it was not so astonishing to the new pope. As a young boy Wojtyla used to pause for a few moments following Mass to offer a series of prayers ``for the conversion of Russia.''
From the outset, Wojtyla was a robust, intense, strong, and disciplined young man. His charismatic personality was augmented by his facility with languages and further honed by theatrical training. His combination of fervent piety and firm anti-Communism would serve him well in his future as priest, bishop, and cardinal in Poland. In a country that is itself 93 percent Roman Catholic, such a profession would necessitate dealing with Russia's surrogates, sometimes making strategic accommodations, without yielding the moral ground to Communism.
John Paul comprehended the dynamics of Marxism both intellectually and personally. He knew Communism well, so well that some left-wing theologians initially mistook his familiarity with Marxism for sympathy. They hoped he would lead a new and enriched dialogue between Christianity and Marxism. Instead, by virtue of his philosophical and theological training, he was equipped both to refute Marxism's logical errors, and also to offer a more compelling alternative in its place.
As leader of the largest Christian religion, John Paul is also the leader of a vast enterprise, joined by thousands of subsidiary organizations. These are linked by a common set of beliefs and symbols, enabling the transcendence of the usual barriers of language, culture, and geographic border. This expansive umbrella enabled him, through gesture, encyclical, and homily, to inspire millions of people living under regimes that violated their ability to work for authentic liberty.
moral conflict
During his pontificate, two other figures stepped onto the world stage and occupied with him critical roles in the momentous events that would unfold. A year after John Paul assumed his place at the Vatican in 1978, Margaret Thatcher came to occupy 10 Downing Street. About a year and a half later, Ronald Reagan took up residency in the White House.
The common thread between John Paul, Thatcher, and Reagan is that while they appreciated the art of politics, they understood the global situation in fundamentally moral categories. They understood, as few world leaders have understood, that the argument in favor of freedom is a moral argument as well as a political and economic one. Without the moral dimension, the battles that these cold warriors waged would have been meaningless and uninspiring.
The compelling dignity and moral depth of John Paul is especially highlighted when he contrasted with the leaders of another international religious body, and their posture toward the dictatorships of Eastern Europe. I speak here, of course, of the World Council of Churches. Almost from its inception, and throughout the past 40 years, the socialist penchants of the WCC prevented it from offering any kind of principled opposition to the immorality of Communism.
``Liberation'' was the central theme of the WCC's Nairobi Assembly in 1975. South Africa was denounced alongside
``white Atlantic nations''; the rights of aborigines in Australia were defended even as the plight of migrant workers in Europe was decried.
Yet a motion to include in this litany of injustice a mention of religious repression in Russia was turned back. Instead, the assembly would only acknowledge that it
``devoted a substantial period of discussion to the alleged denials of religious liberty in the USSR'' [emphasis added].
While the officers of the WCC were funding Marxist guerrillas in Africa in the name of ``liberation,'' John Paul was teaching the polish under ground in the effective use of nonviolent resistance to totalitarianism. He did this in his writings, as well as in the numerous meetings and audiences he held with leaders of the underground.
No doubt historians who write on this period in years to come will not only see the moral dimension, but also the superb tactical insight of the use of nonviolence. Too aggressive a stance on the part of the Polish underground and the Soviet Union might have cracked down at a much earlier and more vulnerable stage. Drawing on a tradition accustomed to martyrs, whose blood, it is said, is the seed of the Roman Catholic Church, prayer and determination in the face of persecution resulted in one of the most radical yet bloodless revolutions in world history.
Spirit of Liberty
If there is one word to characterize the legacy John Paul will leave to history, perhaps that word is liberty.
Historians will undoubtedly note the amazing move in the Catholic world toward democratic political processes and free economies in the period of this pope's reign. This is clearly evident in Latin America where the Pope has confronted unjust regimes of every stripe.
How fitting, then, that John Paul, this priest from Poland who lived under what is arguably history's most immoral and destructive political system, should have been the one to write the epitaph for collectivism in its Communist, socialist, and welfare statist incarnations. This he has done in the form of his most recent social encyclical, Centesimus Annus (``The Hundredth Year'').
Celebrating the centenary of Pope Leo XIII's pastoral letter Rerum Navarum, Centesimus Annus looks at the events of this age and envisions a world where government is strictly limited and based on the rule of law; where free people trade in free markets to produce a more prosperous economy for all the world's needy; and where the social system is rooted in moral and religious tradition.
It will be interesting to see whether this moral vision will have greater impact on the West or on the former republics of the Soviet empire that John Paul did so much to free.
Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the distinguished Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time. I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) for sponsoring this very important resolution and for his eloquent remarks just made on behalf of the Pope.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Sensenbrenner resolution urging the President on behalf of people of the United States to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II, who in his 25 years as leader of the Catholic Church, has become pastor to the world, boldly proclaiming the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and its message of love, hope and reconciliation.
The Holy Father walks the path to peace that surpasses understanding, the road that leads to heaven. Even at age 83 and struggling with various health ailments, including Parkinsons disease, the Pope's charisma and steadfast faith shine brightly, giving hope to millions of people of all faiths.
Mr. Speaker, as we know, during his pontificate the Holy Father has visited over 125 different countries, several more than once, proclaiming the good news to millions and has been seen by more people than anyone in human history.
In what is believed to be the largest gathering ever, he spoke before an estimated 6 million people at a mass at World Youth Day in the Philippines in 1995.
Pope John Paul II is truly a world leader and has been an unparalleled champion of those who cannot speak for themselves, the poor, the disenfranchised, unborn children, the disabled, even those condemned to death and those whose basic rights as children of God are trampled upon by oppressive regimes.
Mr. Speaker, it has been noted that years before he was Pope when he was teaching at a university in Poland as a young priest, a communist student launched an aggressive attack against religion during class. The student, an avowed atheist, was so filled with rage, his fellow students feared that the young priest, then known as Karol Wojtyla, would lose his temper and kick the student out of class. Instead, Father Wojtyla had listened to the student before calmly and thoroughly refuting his argument point by point. After class the two had a conversation that began a dialogue. The student would later say that helped him greatly when confronting atheist communists after he converted to Catholicism and after he himself became a priest.
Mr. Speaker, it is worth recalling that Pope John Paul II's first words as Pope to the world included the message, ``Do not be afraid.''
{time} 2015
This message was part of an unrelenting crusade against the forces of atheistic communism that was instrumental in its collapse. No one, Mr. Speaker, can dispute that John Paul II's historic visit to Poland in 1979 inspired the creation of the solidarity movement with its great leader Lech Walesa in the midst of unspeakable turmoil and personal risk. Remember, this Pope was shot, and he actually, after he was shot, and he was actually we believe saved miraculously, went to the jail cell of his would-be assassin to forgive that man for the crime he attempted and for the pain and suffering that he visited upon the Pope. Despite all of those personal risks, Pope John Paul II was, during those terrible years, and is the brave voice of reason, candor and hope. Even Mikhail Gorbachev admitted that the sweeping changes in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union itself would not have occurred had it not been for this Pope.
Today, the Pope continues to preach, Mr. Speaker, the message of life, hope and love amid the oppressive tide of the culture of death. His teachings not only inspire the faithful today but will continue to have an impact long after his work on earth is complete.
Many of his most profound messages are contained in 13 incisive encyclicals, including Evangelium Vitae, ``The Gospel of Life,'' which reminds all of us, especially those in public service, that the gift of human life is so precious, so full of dignity, that it must remain inviolable and be defended against all means of violence.
The Pope writes in that very important document that, ``This is what is happening at the level of politics and government,'' and I quote him, ``the original and inalienable right to life is questioned or denied on the basis of a parliamentary vote or the will of one part of the people, even if it is the majority. This is the sinister result of relativism which reigns unopposed, the right ceases to be such, because it is no longer firmly founded on the inviolable dignity of the person, but is made subject to the will of the stronger part.''
Elsewhere, Mr. Speaker, in Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II states in unambiguous terms that, ``Abortion and euthanasia are crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws,'' he writes and said, ``There is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection. In the case of intrinsically unjust law,'' he continues, ``such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it.''
Finally, Mr. Speaker, just let me say this. My dear wife Marie and I have had the awesome privilege of meeting the Holy Father on two occasions, and we were awed. We were deeply struck by his innate goodness, the clarity that we see in his eyes, the love that he emanates and by his gentleness. When we were in Newark, New Jersey, at the cathedral there when he came during one of his visits to the U.S., and we happened to be there as a family. He walked over to my youngest daughter Elyse, gave her a big nice kiss on the top of the head, and we could just see the compassion of this man in his eyes and in his gestures and in his heart. We were also even faces in the crowd in 1979 at New York's Shea Stadium when he came in on his first trip and again were inspired by this good man.
Mr. Speaker, we have been on numerous occasions and I think many Members, House and Senate, Democrats, Republicans, it does not matter, have all been touched by his care and his compassion for others, a man that is so completely rooted in God. We have been touched by his devotion to the Blessed Mother. He is a man who in word and deed unselfishly cares for the least of our brethren.
John Paul II is truly the vicar of Christ on earth, a man who has and continues to be faithfully and courageously walking in the shoes of the fisherman, Saint Peter.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I have no other speakers. I commend the distinguished chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary for introducing this significant resolution. I urge all Members to support the adoption of H. Con. Res. 313.
Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in full support of this resolution, H. Con. Res. 313, urging President Bush to present the Presidential medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II.
Mr. Speaker, Pope John Paul II is a leader who has truly made this world a better place to live. His dedication and devotion to religious freedom for all people aided in bringing about a peaceful end to communism in Eastern Europe. His courage to defy the Nazis during World War II not only helped preserve Poland, but kept the flame of hope alive to all free people during those dark years.
He stood up when the tyranny of Soviet Communism darkened Eastern Europe, and helped ignite the spark of revolution by his visit to Poland in June 1979. His insistence on the dignity of the human spirit, and the call for religious freedom as the first of human rights, aided all Poles in their crusade against their Communist oppressors.
Mr. Speaker, he not only inspired millions suffering under communism, but he also inspired millions more when, just four days after an assassination attempt he said, ``Pray for the brother who shot me, whom I have sincerely forgiven.''
He is a rare individual. He is someone who has truly changed the world. His papacy has affected not only Catholics, but also Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and all others who value freedom over oppression. Citizens of the world owe a debt of gratitude to Pope John Paul II.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate him in celebration of his Silver Jubilee. I call upon my colleagues to vote for this resolution and call on the President to honor Pope John Paul II with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 313, urging the President to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in recognition of his significant, enduring and historic contributions to the causes of freedom, human dignity, and peace and to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of His Holiness' inauguration of his ministry as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church. I want to thank Mr. Sensenbrenner for his leadership on this bill.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is our nation's highest civilian award, recognizing exceptional meritorious contribution to world peace. His Holiness, Pope John Paul II is more than deserving of this award.
Throughout his life and his ministry, he has stood firm in his belief of the inalienable right and dignity of the human person and has been unafraid to shape world events, speak for peace and advocate for human rights.
From his early years during the Nazi occupation of Poland where he risked his life to protect Polish Jews from persecution to his forgiveness of his would-be assassin, he has led by example.
His steadfast support of the Solidarity movement in his homeland of Poland provided hope and encouragement to the Polish people and led to peaceful government reforms that precipitated the collapse of communism in Poland and the eventual fall of the Soviet Union bringing freedom to millions of people.
As these events were unfolding in Eastern Europe, Pope John Paul II was also reaching out to other parts of the world, proclaiming belief in the inalienable right and dignity of the human person and using his influence to bring about change.
Through his efforts, he has helped to reduce tensions between world leaders, reducing conventional and nuclear weapons and averting a nuclear war.
He has sought to heal divisions across the different faith traditions, promoting reconciliation and dialogue between members to further understanding and respect for all people.
He has traveled over the world bringing hope and encouragement to the millions still oppressed by tyranny, hunger, disease and despair.
Despite his ailing health, he continues to lead with strength of conviction as a champion of freedom and peace. Through the many challenges that has faced the Catholic Church and the world, Pope John Paul II has been the rock of the Catholic Church, a model for all people.
On behalf of the people of Guam, I fully support House Concurrent Resolution 313 and urge its unanimous passage.
Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 313, a measure urging the President to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in recognition of his contributions to the causes of freedom, human dignity, and peace, and to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of his inauguration as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church. It is with great honor and esteem that I stand here today to pay tribute to Pope John Paul II. The leadership he has displayed during his 25-year tenure as Supreme Pastor of the Roman Catholic Church has helped to shape our moral conscience. His fight to end human rights abuses and his opposition to communism not only influenced the Catholic community, but the world community.
Born Karol Jozef Wojtyla, Jr. in 1920, Pope John Paul II was the second son of Karol Wojtyla, Sr. and Emilia Kaczorwoska Wojtyla. Karol, Sr. was a retired officer for the Polish Army as well as a tailor, and Emilia was a schoolteacher. Pope John Paul II repeatedly demonstrated his unique ability to form friendships that crossed the social norms of the time. Although his hometown of Wadowice, Poland was wrought with anti-Semitism, Pope John Paul II and his family did not share in that hatred. At an early age, His Holiness befriended several members of the Jewish community and learned the importance of compassion and understanding. He later became the first Pope to visit a synagogue and the first to visit a memorial in nearby Auschwitz honoring victims of the Holocaust.
Shortly after his father's death in 1941, Pope John Paul II attended an underground seminary in Krakow, where he was eventually ordained in 1946. He served as a chaplain to university students at St. Florian's Church in Krakow until the communist government abolished the theology department in 1954. He continued his studies at the Seminary of Krakow and was hired as a professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, where he founded and operated a facility to assist families with marital problems, ranging from family planning to alcoholism and physical abuse. In 1956, Pope John Paul II was appointed to the Chair of Ethics at Catholic University, and in 1958 he was named the auxiliary bishop of Krakow. He was instrumental to the Vatican Council II deliberations in 1962, which encouraged diversity in language and practice of the Catholic faith in order to facilitate the inclusion of laymen in worship while also condemning anti-Semitism around the world. His respect throughout the Catholic community led to his election as Pope after the death of Pope John Paul I in September 1978, making him the first Slavic Pope in history.
Less than a year after being named Pope, John Paul II returned to his native Poland and spoke out in favor of the Polish Solidarity movement and against communism. His insistence that no system of government override religious beliefs gave hope to people of faith throughout the former Soviet Union that reforms would take place. The courage and determination that he displayed in opposition to a world power reflected the strength of his convictions and his willingness to stand up to an institutional force that challenged the beliefs of the church. Pope John Paul II repeated this theme when he visited Cuba in January 2003, stating that a government does not the authority to legislate religious beliefs.
Mr. Speaker, during his 25 years as pontiff, Pope John Paul II has spread the Catholic faith with visits to over 115 countries. His gift for uniting those of different beliefs earned him Man of the Year honors from Time Magazine in 1994, and his popularity among both Catholics and non-Catholics around the world is a testament to his genuine love for humanity. As a graduate of St. Mark's Catholic School in Gary, Indiana, I am well aware of the significant role that he has played in leading the Catholic Church into the 21st century. His teaching of tolerance and love for thy neighbor has made him worthy of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and that is why I intend to support H. Con. Res. 313.
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to join my friend from Wisconsin in urging the President to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II, who has marked his Silver Jubilee as the spiritual leader of more than one billion Catholics around the world.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is considered the highest civilian award of the United States Government. It was established to recognize persons who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States; to world peace; or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. Recipients have included educators, diplomats, authors, scientists and religious leaders.
By bestowing this great honor upon Pope John Paul II, we recognize His Holiness' lifetime dedication to peace, hope, freedom, unity and dignity. No one is more deserving of this award of special distinction which symbolizes the lasting admiration of the American people for the Pope's many efforts.
This man was formed at a remarkable time in human history. He knew the persecution of oppression and witnessed the false ideologies of the 20th Century. He studied for the priesthood in secrecy and lived through the Nazi occupation and Communist subjugation of his native Poland. He was a philosopher, theologian and pastor. He was instrumental in the demise of the Communist regime in Poland, and he played an important role in the collapse of Communism throughout central and eastern Europe, which ended the Cold War.
The Holy Father has continued to promote freedom and peace throughout the world during his pontificate. He has truly internationalized the Catholic Church, and yet he has also reached out in an unprecedented way to peoples of other beliefs and religions all over the world through his promotion of greater understanding, healing, and harmony between religions. His Holiness has particularly promoted unity among Christian churches, reconciliation with the Jewish people, and dialogue with Islam. The Holy Father was the first Pope to visit a synagogue, as well as the first to visit a mosque.
I consider it an honor to be able to ask my Congressional colleagues to join me in paying tribute to this devoted spiritual leader and to celebrate with the Holy Father this Jubilee by urging the President to bestow the Medal of Freedom upon His Holiness, Pope John Paul II.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pearce). The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 313.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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