THE POPE IN POLAND: CHURCH MEETS STATE ON A ROCKY ROAD

The wall came down and democracy (or perhaps theocracy) was to rise up. Poland was to be free to function as a state and a church intertwined. "Exceptional emphasis should be laid for cooperation between the state and the Catholic Church, cooperation rooted in the good of individuals, who in the Polish situation are predominantly members of both of these communities at the same time." So spoke the Polish bishops. It hasn't fully worked out that way so far.

The Church did prevail on the teaching of religion in the public schools. Priests and lay people will participate in religious instruction as an integral part of the regular curriculum. But on abortion, the Vatican lost. Poland, under Communism, led Eastern Europe in abortions over half a million each year. The Church wanted the practice banned by law. Parliament said no at least for now. If the Catholic hierarchy were to overplay its hand, former Prime Minister Tedusz Mazowiecki for one believes there could be a backlash of "militant anti-clericalism."

Mazowiecki's worries were reflected in a recent nationwide poll. The poll asked, "Is it your opinion that the Catholic Church has the right to demand that people submit to it in the following matters?" Contraceptives? No: 81%. Abortion? No: 71%. Extramarital relations? No: 61%. Divorce? No: 63%. As the Pope traveled throughout Poland for eleven days, he time and again preached the absolutes of Catholic doctrine. He told President Lech Walesa that "the right to life" was the "most important" aspect of all "human rights." The pontiff also preached against hatred not an easy subject in Poland where four out of five Poles declare they don't want any of the tiny handful of Jews as their neighbors.

Then there is the Church and the free market. Pope John Paul II is not a capitalist. He is deeply suspicious of the "idolatry of the market." Capitalism can breed "exploitation" and can reduce man "to the sphere of economics and the satisfaction of material needs." The Pope was pleased to have met once with Ronald Reagan, but is displeased with Reagonomics and the materialistic values it might breed in his homeland.

The Pope is not the only worrier about capitalism. Polish workers worry too. Despite the dilapidated condition of Polish industry, many workers prefer state guaranteed paternalism to the gamble of some rich American opening a new plant. Many prefer a job doing next to nothing and paying something as more appealing than doing nothing and paying less. Free market proponents have to advocate the merits of unemployment, plant closings and bankruptcy not an easy sell.

Finally, the Polish government is worried as well. Taking the "cold bath" free market plunge seemed like a good gamble at the start, but now there is not one hanging around with a warm towel. Foreign investment ranges between non-existent and cautious. Germany is busy with its own Eastern problems. Japan doesn't, for now, see a huge Polish market. The United States cheers Walesa, but doesn't put its money where its cheers are.

The notion was that the Poles would sell shares in their future. Shares in what? To whom? What future? Once there was euphoria. Now all the talk is of being let down.

As far as Poland and its future are concerned, the Pope is not the only one to carry a heavy heart.