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A Catholic archbishop has urged Poles to show greater respect for heroes of the Solidarity union after government leaders declined to invite its former leader, Lech Walesa, to anniversary celebrations. "Solidarity was an expression of spiritual links, not class struggle," said Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin. "Today, no respect is shown any more for the person who united the creators of Solidarity in those August days. A commercialised version of Polish history is being raised to the level of revealed truth." The archbishop was preaching at a Mass to commemorate the August 1980 Gdansk Accords, under which Poland's Communist regime reluctantly accepted 21 demands by striking shipyard workers. He said Polish newspapers had "scandalised" the union's origins by attempting to expose secret police agents among its leaders. "We should be embracing the young generation and explaining important facts to them," said Archbishop Zycinski. "Contempt for the human person cannot be reconciled with the respect taught by John Paul II."  |
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