Lech Walesa challenges America to offer the world moral leadership

Published: 2004-11-12

SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -- The struggles of early Polish settlers in Texas and Poland's struggle for freedom both occurred "under the banner of Our Lady," said Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize winner. He was referring to the Polish immigrants who responded to the call of Father Leopold Moczygemba to leave their native land for Panna Maria, Texas, in 1854. Walesa, who was in Texas to attend the Polish American Congress in Houston, visited Panna Maria Oct. 24. In a speech, Walesa, who founded the Solidarity labor movement that helped to topple communism in Poland, urged that people in Poland and Polish-Americans continue the close ties they have with the Blessed Virgin. Referring to the United States as the world's only superpower, he noted that, while there was no doubt of its military and economic leadership, its moral and political leadership was in doubt. "That's why, from the very, very beginning," Walesa said, "I have been pleading (with) you ... all the people who are people of faith, all you people representing the 'superpower,' to realize that new solutions need to be implemented in the world."

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