Pope looks to light f the East

by Viviane Hewitt in Rome POPE John Paul II has predicted that a new injection of life for the Church in the next few years will come from the East. Speaking aboard the Alitalia papal aircraft as it flew over Moscow on the way to Seoul, South Korea, where he closed the International Eucharistic Congress, the Pope remarked: "Lux ex Oriente. There will be new religious life in Europe from the East". He had just radioed a special message of greeting to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev due in the Vatican on an historic visit on November 26, and who had granted the Pope's plane the first ever Soviet permit to fly over Russian territory in 85 years of papal travel.
This week in Rome, observers were highlighting the wording of John Paul's message to Gorbachev which was longer than the identical greetings he had radioed en route to Yugoslav President Jane?. Drnovaek and his Hungarian counterpart, Bruno Staub.
In contrast to those cordial but brief messages "I am happy to greet you" the Pope began his transmission to the Kremlin "flying over the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics on my way to a pastoral visit to some Asian countries, I am especially anxious to greet you and to assure you of my fervent wishes for the welfare and prosperity of your compatriots."
The special greeting was being interpreted as at personal thanks from John Paul to Gorbachev for granting the permit for the plane, denied by China, and, in 1984 when the Pope first visited South Korea, rendered impossible by the difficult relations between the Vatican and the same Soviet Union. On that occasion the papal jet was forced to fly to Asia via Alaska.
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Assured by Moscow airport's control tower that it would relay his message to the Kremlin and then to East Berlin where Gorbachev was on an official visit, the Pope went on to speak of eastern bloc changes. "I would say there are two factors to consider. The main factor is the sense of religion of the Russian people and of others belonging to the Soviet Union. The second is the growing interest in human rights", he said.
The desire for change also combined to constitute a process which was "a great consolation, a great hope", he added. On the possibility of a papal visit to the Soviet Union, John Paul said, "I think the situation may mature".
When asked if he felt he from the East had influenced the current evolution in Soviet satellite states, John Paul replied in Latin: "Servi inutiles sumus" ("We are useless servants").
It is said, however, that the Pope is privately convinced that his election accelerated the democratisation process in the eastern bloc.