Posted on 12/05/2005 11:52:09 AM PST by lizol
Lech Walesa tells his story of faith at Seton Hall
Former Polish president finally accepts honorary degree conferred in 1982
Friday, December 02, 2005
BY SARA K. CLARKE Star-Ledger Staff
Former Polish President Lech Walesa said yesterday it was faith that allowed Poland to triumph over Communism, and he credited Pope John Paul II with stirring the nation to rise up in solidarity.
Walesa urged listeners to focus on values as he spoke to a gymnasium full of people at Seton Hall University Thursday, as part of the school's World Leaders Forum.
"No one throughout the world gave us the least of a chance to break Communism down," the Nobel laureate said.
"It happened quite simply," he added. "We knelt down and prayed.
In addition to witnessing a new millennium, Walesa said the current generation has a unique opportunity for peace, providing its members recognize the role of the United Nations and the effects of the current economic system.
"Less than 10 percent of mankind has in their pocket 90 percent of the globe," he said.
Born in 1943, Walesa began working as electrician at the Gdansk shipyards in 1967, according to the Nobel Foundation's Web site. An activist and opponent of Communism, Walesa led a shipyard strike in 1980 that rippled to factories across Poland. He negotiated with Communist authorities to get workers the right to strike and to organize independent unions.
As the nation's economy soured, Solidarity gained strength, and limited parliamentary elections resulted in a non-Communist government, according to the Nobel Web site.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Lech Walesa Bump!
"As you well know, they are two neighbors that enjoy military tours," he said, to laughter. "And they like to visit one another every once in awhile. But when they enter Poland, they see how beautiful it is, and they stay longer than expected."
Historical Bump
Why did the voters turn him out in '95?
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