Vatican, Poles Re-Establish Diplomacy Ties
VATICAN CITY — The Holy See and predominantly Roman Catholic Poland today re-established full diplomatic relations, the first time the Vatican has forged such ties with a Warsaw Pact nation.
The announcement by the Vatican and Poland’s state-run news agency said relations, cut by the Communists who took power in Poland in 1945, are at the level of ambassador by Poland and apostolic nunciature by the Vatican.
Sources said the names of the ambassador and the papal nuncio will be announced later.
The way was paved for establishment of full relations between Pope John Paul II’s native Poland and the Vatican in May after the Polish Parliament passed a law giving the Roman Catholic Church legal status for the first time since 1944.
The Sejm (Parliament) also passed two other laws establishing freedom of worship for all creeds and the church’s right to build churches, teach religion and establish and run Catholic schools.
Church-state relations were marked by bitter conflict after World War II and were strained by the Pope’s fervent support of the Solidarity free trade union.
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