Pope meets Lech Walesa and Solidarity leaders

Pope John Paul II met with former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa along with current leaders of the famous trade union, yesterday, and warned them that many of Solidarity's ideals and principals are threatened in today's market driven Polish economy. The Pope used the meeting to once again pay tribute to the important role Solidarity played in bringing down communism in his native Poland, but questioned whether the union properly represented the country's work force anymore. He said: "Together with the development of the market economy new problems arise that painfully touch the workers." He added Solidarity's must "openly take up the defence" of the increasing number of workers in Poland who lack proper employment rights, many of whom are working illegally within Poland's frontiers from countries such as Ukraine. He said: that it was a "sin" that some workers in Poland have gone unpaid, warning that Solidarity cannot remain indifferent to the problem. Under the leadership of Walesa Solidarity, became the first independent trade union behind the Iron curtain. Walesa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and was elected Poland's first fully democratic president in more than 50 years.