Poland and “its” Pope

In December 2011 Hanna Suchocka was appointed Ambassador of Poland to the Holy See, member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences set up by John Paul II on January 19 1994. A Constitutional Law scholar, Suchocka served as Prime Minister in Poland from July 11 1992 to October 26 1993, under the presidency of Lech Walesa, the only woman installed to this office. Anna Kowalewska interviewed her for SIR Europe.When in 1978 John Paul II was raised to the Papacy, diplomatic relations between Poland and the Holy See hadn’t been established yet. It was a particular situation…“The situation was even more paradoxical since diplomatic relations between Poland and the Holy See were officially set up only 20 years after the election of John Paul II, in 1998. I think this case is unique in history. But it’s just one of the paradoxes in a world divided by the Iron Curtain”.When the Concordat regulating Polish-Holy See diplomatic relations was signed – that came into force only five years later – you were serving as the country’s Prime Minister. How were the relations between the Vatican – with a Polish Pope – and Poland at the time?“Even though Poland didn’t have an ambassador to the Holy See, it did however have a representative for bilateral relations with the Holy See. However, as he was not a diplomatic official, he represented a unilateral initiative undertaken by the Polish authorities. Only after the election of John Paul II, in the 1980s, the idea of a convention signed by the Holy See and by national authorities gradually gained ground. The Ostpolitik of cardinal Casaroli was aimed at ratifying such agreements. The situation in Poland was very different from that in other Soviet Bloc countries. In fact, in our Country the Church had always been deeply rooted within civil society. It played an important role even under a structurally atheist regime. For this reason, negotiations between the Holy See and national authorities without the participation of the local episcopacy were unimaginable. It can be said that to a certain extent after his election John Paul II himself became the ambassador of Poland”.Can it be said that the Poles have a special bond with the person of John Paul II: a pope, a Pole, a representative of a Church that played a key role in Polish society for many centuries?“Indeed. The Polish people highly value these three elements also in their perception of the importance of John Paul II. The Pope himself, although he had never said it openly, knew that in Poland he was seen as a spiritual guide. The Poles visiting the Vatican, and Rome, especially in the years preceding 1990, viewed him as their moral point of reference, a personality that engendered hope in a future without Communist dictatorship. Critics – including Italians – accuse the Polish people of being excessively attached to Pope Wojtyla, but while there have been many Italian Pontiffs, Wojtyla was the first Polish pope, and in difficult times he has been our guide and our source of hope”.Today Poland is a modern country. However, it is said that EU membership was achieved also thanks to Pope Wojtyla. Is it true that he was the guarantor of Poland’s EU adhesion?“I think that Pope Wojtyla believed in Europe. He believed that Europe had to be reunited, that its division had to end. He was also convinced that every part of the divided Europe had values to offer to a common continent. In 2003, shortly before the referendum in Poland on EU adhesion, John Paul II said in clear letters that Europe needed Poland, just like Poland needed Europe. I think that if the Pope hadn’t said it in clear letters, the referendum could have had a different outcome. Many told me that those words of the Pope clarified their doubts. At the time there were euroskepicals in Poland, but also many undecided. Many of them voted in favour precisely because Europe wanted a united Europe. This Europe was called to be a continent united by values, and not only an economic community”.Do you think that Poland, where Christianity is deeply rooted in civil society, should act as the engine of an authentically Christian Europe?“We have our values and our Christian traditions that are very dear to us, but Poland today also has valid juridical solutions, such as our Constitutions, which in modern terms bears clear reference to Christianity. Our Constitution has been taken as a role model by other countries, like Ukraine. In Brussels the Polish foreign minister recently spoke of the need to defend Christian values whilst condemning the religious persecution of Christian faithful. We are indeed Polish, but we were raised in Christian Europe and we are aware of our roots”.