Vatican envoys meet Poles and Czechs

The Vatican's "Foreign Minister,"Archbishop Casaroli, who is on a visit to Czechoslovakia. discussed relations between Czechoslovakia and the Vatican with the deputy Prime Minister, Dr Matej I.ucaw, the official news agency reported in Prague on Tuesday. They also discussed matters of the Church in Czechoslovakia, the agency said, which diplomatic observers understood as meaning the possible appointment of more bishops for vacant dioceses. According to the agency, the discussions concerned "various questions connected with the efforts of progressive forces towards the strengthening of peace and the deepening of mutual co-operation between states on the European and world level, relations between the Czechoslovakia State and the Vatican, and other Church political matters of interest to both sides." Earlier on Tuesday, Archbishop Casaroli, officially the secretary of the Council tor the Public Affairs of the Church met the Foreign Minister, Mr Bohuslav Chnoupek, at whose invitation he arrived in Prague on Monday.
The official report on theirt meeting described the discus-,, sion as "factual and correct," and and said the two statesmen covered a wide field of international questions.
The Vatican's special envoy, Archbishop Luigi Poggi, arrived in Warsaw on Tuesday to continue talks with the Polish Government on normalising relations with the Communist State.
During the 30-day official visit, the Archbishop will tour central, and north-western Poland to sound out opinions of local clergy and believers about freedom of religion in the C ountry.
Talks between Poland and the Holy See were opened in 1967 by an eight-week working visit to Poland by Archbishop Agostino Casarolt, Pope Paul's "foreign minister." Archbishop Poggi said on arrival that he was pleased with the visit, which opened his mis sion as the head of the Vatican's group for working contacts with the Polish State. Mr Kazimierz Szablewski, a senior Polish Foreign Ministry official, has already been in Rome for four months. The papal diplomat heads the Catholic side of a joint working group set up last July which could lead to full diplomatic relations between Poland and the Holy See.
The prelate said he hoped the present visit would help to speed up the normalisation process.