A Letter From The Publisher: Jun. 27, 1983

As the tension and concern surrounding the pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II to his native Poland built before his arrival in Warsaw last week, TIME correspondents were reporting on the activities of both the visitor and the visited. In Rome, Bonn Bureau Chief Roland Flamini, who as a Rome correspondent covered John Paul's 1978 election, followed the Pontiff's preflight preparations, then accompanied him on the trip to Poland. Paris Correspondent Thomas A. Sancton, a former associate editor who wrote many of TIME's stories about Solidarity, including the 1981 Man of the Year cover on Lech Walesa, was in Poland, an eyewitness to the spontaneous demonstrations along the Pope's route. Says Sancton: "It is impossible to be indifferent to those sentiments of religiosity and nationalism that have been behind the events of the past three years and that are underscored by John Paul's presence here."

As TIME's Eastern Europe bureau chief since May, John Moody too has been observing the buildup for the Pope's visit. He talked with clergymen, officials and ordinary Polish citizens about what the Pope's homecoming might accomplish: "When the experts talk," Moody says, "they use words like spiritual renewal and moral uplift as though they were code words for political pluralism and a return to free trade unionism. But when the Poles talk, it becomes obvious that those intangible qualities—renewal of spirit and outlook—are precisely the things Poles lack most dramatically and desire most acutely."

In Warsaw, Moody has also noted the rigors of life in a socialist-bloc country. Says he: "We Western correspondents don't face hardships anything like those borne daily by Poles, but we do have some inconveniences. The hot water in my neighborhood hasn't been on for three weeks. When I mentioned this to the building superintendent, he saw the silver lining: 'The cold water works, no?' "

Moody joined TIME last year after three years as a bureau manager for United Press International in Moscow and Paris. Says he: "Comparisons in Poland between Moscow and Warsaw are extremely unpopular. Attempts to speak Russian to Poles are rudely rebuffed. And it is hazardous to remind them of Soviet influence. 'We are Poles,' they say. No matter whether it is a former Solidarity member or an official of the martial law regime, they mean just that, and are extremely proud of it."