Homecoming for Poland’s Favorite Native Son

Pope John Paul II braves Poland’s political storms.

For months, Polish citizens had awaited with high spirits the visit of their most revered countryman. Pope John Paul IPs historic eight-day trip in June to his native Poland was everything his people hoped it would be. Literally millions of Poles heard the Pope’s inspiring message, calling for unity and love, offering hope to a nation that has perceived its liberty slipping away.

Especially since the installation of martial law in December 1981, Poland’s masses have made known to their government their disenchantment with communism. Apparently coming to grips with the internal unrest, the Polish government, headed by General Wojeiech Jaruzelski, allowed the visit. Most analysts believe this was a necessary risk to ease the tension. Poland’s official press described the visit as evidence of the “legitimization of the Polish Government by the Vatican and the church.”

The Pope’s trip highlighted the historical tension that has existed between Polish Catholicism and communism. Characterizing this tension is the outlawed Polish labor union, Solidarity, which has made an indelible mark on Polish history. When Solidarity began to emerge in 1980, one of the first acts of the striking shipyard workers was to arrange for the availability of the sacraments. The union, through public proclamations, has consistently tied its roots to the Catholic church.

Tiptoeing through Poland’s political minefield, the Pope carefully dressed his criticism of the government in nuance and buried it in the context of his message to the people. He encouraged his comrades to seek a “moral victory” in the midst of political defeat. In part, he said, this moral victory entails “love of neighbor” and “fundamental solidarity between human beings.” His choice of words did not go unnoticed.

In addition, the Pope specifically noted the workers’ revolt of 1980, calling it the “witness which amazed the whole world, when the Polish worker stood up for himself with the gospel in his hand and a prayer on his lips.”

Former U.S. national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski believes the political controversy surrounding the trip blinded most Western observers to the Pope’s main purpose. That purpose, says Brezezinski, is to unify Eastern Catholicism, in the midst of a spiritual crisis born out of the failure of Marxist materialism, and by Western Catholicism, which the Pope believes has been beset by the West’s hedonism.

The impact of the Pope’s visit remains open to speculation, since little of his four hours of private talks with Jaruzelski has been made public. However, one clear development in Poland is the growing influence of the church. Poland’s primate, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, announced that church and state are discussing the formation of a church-financed fund to assist Polish agriculture and raise living standards in rural areas.

Surveys reveal that in the last year the number of regular churchgoers in Poland has soared from 70 percent to more than 90 percent. Church growth has been accompanied by unprecedented freedoms for religious broadcasting. This allowance of the government is widely perceived as a concession aimed at gaining favor with the church, deemed politically indispensable.

The concession has given Poland’s meager evangelical church a boost. Protestant broadcasts have been introduced to Polish radio. The Polish Baptist Church, which this year expects to receive a record number into the church (nearly 3,000), has delegated a former pastor to full-time radio work. In June, Billy Graham’s 1978 evangelistic campaign in Poland was shown on local television. Also, Polish Lutherans have gained wide access to public media this year to report on activities commemorating Martin Luther’s birth.

Poland’s evangelical church is growing slowly in size and in influence. Andrzej Bajeński, pastor of a United Evangelical congregation in Warsaw, reports that his congregation has increased by 50 members in the last two years, noting that most of the new members are from nonevangelical circles. Joint Catholic-Baptist discussion groups, formed after Graham’s visit in 1978, are still functioning. These and other developments indicate that a once-isolated evangelical subculture is cracking the hard shell of traditionalism in Poland.

Protestants eagerly anticipated the Pope’s meeting in Warsaw with the Polish Ecumenical Council, which includes Baptists, Methodists, and United Evangelicals, among other denominations. Some were disappointed that in his extended words of greeting, the Pope made no mention of his invited, non-Catholic guests. Most evangelicals, though, are content if their access to the millions of spiritually uncommitted Poles is not greatly impeded by the state or the Catholic church.

Perhaps the most troublesome aspect of the Pope’s message in Poland was his sharply increased veneration of Mary, an emphasis that runs counter to the aspirations of Poland’s evangelicals.

There Are Far More Christians In China Than Officials Admit

During the past six months, China’s Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) has branched out on several fronts. Set up in 1951 to serve as a liaison between the government’s Bureau of Religious Affairs and the Protestant churches, the TSPM crumbled during the Cultural Revolution but was revived in 1979. It has opened many new churches—according to one estimate there are now over 700 Three-Self churches. It expects to have one million Bibles in print. And it has increased the number of training courses it offers.

A Three-Self delegation headed by its chairman, Bishop Ding Guanxun (K. H. Ting), visited a number of European and African Ding Guanxun nations plus Hong Kong last fall. The members everywhere emphasized the progress made by the church and stressed their expectation that Christians in the West recognize them as the true representative of what they describe as between two and three million Protestant Chinese Christians.

This figure is, however, unrealistically low. Surveys based on the visits of Christians, reports from house church leaders, and letters from local groups have shown that there are more than this number of believers in just 1 of its 29 provinces. While no accurate figure can be given for the whole country, the true figure is clearly many times larger than that given by the Three-Self leaders.

Bishop Ding and members of his delegation sought to discredit those who refuse to join the TSPM, describing them as a small minority of extremists often influenced by outside organizations. The house churches contain a great variety of groups, the vast majority being simple Christians who have one desire: to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The growing number of official churches has been offset by increased persecution of those meeting in homes. Most house meetings in the cities have now been closed since all Christians are expected to attend the registered churches where they exist. In one city, a group of 150 meeting regularly for services on Sunday, with 70 young people attending a weekday Bible study, was ordered to close. Most of the members refused to join the Three-Self church that was opened nearby. They are probably now meeting in very small, secret family groups.

The Three-Self Patriotic Movement in another city issued a letter of accusation about a respected house church leader. He had been forced to stop preaching and holding meetings in his home, but he refused to put up a notice declaring that there would be no more meetings in his house. The letter, circulated to Christians in the city, declared that he was guilty of antirevolutionary activities.

Political charges are almost invariably brought against Christian leaders who refuse to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The TSPM informs the Public Security Bureau about them. One evangelist recently held meetings at which 180 people indicated their commitment to Christ. The police arrived to arrest him just as he was departing, but local Christians managed to conceal him.

Some evangelicals, realizing that if they remain outside the TSPM they will be regarded as antirevolutionary, feel it best to take advantage of the limited freedom given by the TSPM and so seek to maintain a true gospel witness within the open churches. A large number of Christians in the cities, however, attend no church, but very small, irregular house groups.

In the countryside, the TSPM is seeking to set up its own house churches and to register gatherings of Christians. The vast majority of Christians, however, is still meeting independently. While some are nominally affiliated with the TSPM, most have no official link to it.

In several parts of the country the Three-Self provincial councils have adopted resolutions “aimed at implementing the Party’s policy of religious freedom.” These resolutions, published in pamphlet form, have included the following points:

1. All churches that have obtained government approval to carry out religious activities must uphold the Three-Self principles (self-government, self-propagation, and self-support. This implies that only government authorized churches are permitted.)

2. All religious activities must be conducted within the church building. (This effectively restricts the multiplying of informal meetings in the homes, so prominent in the recent mushrooming of the church.)

3. Ministers must not go to other areas or welcome outsiders to speak in the church. (This is aimed at stopping traveling preachers and evangelistic teams sent out by the house churches.)

4. A management committee made up of those who adhere to the Three-Self principles is to be appointed for every church. Preachers and teachers who have not been ordained under the auspices of the TSPM must report to the management committee and can only be allowed to continue their ministry if they are acceptable to the TSPM.

5. It is forbidden to make converts among young people who are under age. (In some cases, young people asking for baptism have been turned away by Three-Self pastors. Even adults are sometimes reported by the TSPM to their work units, where they may come under strong pressure to not attend the church.)

6. The work of evangelism of the Chinese Christian church is the responsibility and jurisdiction of the Chinese church. (No activities, including the distribution of literature, is to be allowed by people from Hong Kong, Macao, or overseas churches.)

7. All Christians are called to uphold the four basic principles. These are (1) the socialist road, (2) the people’s democratic dictatorship, (3) Marxism, Leninism, and Mao Zedong thought, and (4) the leadership of the Communist party.

It is reported that those who do not comply with these seven resolutions must undergo “reeducation,” and if they do not change their attitude and behavior will be taken into custody.

These resolutions, if implemented, would undoubtedly weaken the church and obstruct it in fulfilling its evangelistic task. Perhaps Bishop Ding was thinking of this when he said in his address at London University last October: “We do not think that this large numerical growth should or can continue, because it is already larger than our work of Christian nurture can cope with.”

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