THE battle over the four-lane ring road planned to cut off the great Polish shrine of Czestochowa from the town has ended in a climb-down by the Polish authorities.
It had been intended to widen the existing road between the town and the monastery and to provide only a narrow tunnel as a crossing for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who flood to the shrine on big feast days.
The plan had sparked off uproar in Poland and opposition was led by the bishops. After confused reports hinting that the Pope had intervened, the official Polish Press Agency has issued a long statement stressing government concern for the safety of pilgrims to the shrine.