The Pope met Lech Walesa in private for around 40 minutes

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Pope John Paul II has held a private meeting with Lech Walesa, the founder and leader of Solidarity, Poland's independent trade union movement.

Solidarity has been banned since December 1981 whenmartial lawwas declared following social tensions in Poland.

It is the second time Pope John Paul II - who was formerly Archbishop of Krakow - has returned to his native Poland since he became head of the Roman Catholic Church in 1978.

Mr Walesa met the Pope in the Tatra Mountains in the south of the country towards the end of his eight-day visit to Poland.

"This right is not given to us by the state...It is a right given by the Creator."Pope John Paul II said.

Solidarity sources say the Pope told Mr Walesa that he should rely on the advice of the Catholic Church, rather than organising street demonstrations as part of the trade union movement's campaign to bring about political reforms in Poland.

As Archbishop, Karol Wojtyla took an uncompromising stand against the Communist regime.

But the Pope has urged the country to try to resolve its differences through dialogue and not confrontation.

Officials close to Mr Walesa say the Pope also told the Solidarity leader that martial law could be lifted by the autumn.

This, they say, was indicated to the Pope by Prime Minister General Wojciech Jaruzelski during talks just hours before he met Mr Walesa.

Mr Walesa has said he was "moved and enthusiastic" about his meeting with the Pope, and is willing to take a "back seat" as a focus for opposition to the government in ending martial law.

The Pope has also addressed a congregation of two million worshippers in Katowice, Poland's industrial heartland in the south, and told them that workers should be able to join free trade unions.

He said: "This right is not given to us by the state. It is a right given by the Creator."

During his visit the Pope blessed the widows of workers killed when martial law was imposed.

The Polish Government has said it will cooperate closely with the Catholic Church in the future, and it is well known the Pope would like the church to be involved in any reconciliation process.

President Henryk Jablonski, who said goodbye to the Pope at Krakow airport, told reporters that "dialogue is possible and inevitable".

Before returning to the Vatican in Rome, the Pope made a televised address to the Polish people from the airport.

He said: "The nation must develop by its own means and resources."

The Queen Elizabeth I came out of public service in 1968

The unofficial strike, which began on 31 May in Liverpool, has seen sailings cancelled from Southampton and Liverpool, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

The dissatisfied seamen are demanding improved working conditions, including reduced working hours from 70 per week to 44, better accommodation and "shop stewards" on their ships.

The National Union of Seamen is opposed to the action.

Passengers stranded

Participation by crew members from the Queen Elizabeth, which has the largest number of staff of all the ships, has been seen as crucial to the dispute.

It was thought that many of the 1,275 staff would stage a walk-off when the liner docked at Southampton in the early hours of Tuesday morning (21/06/55) but this failed to materialise.

Efforts have continued in vain to gain the support of the QE's crew, including the staging of a full-scale strike meeting, attended by more than 500 strikers, in close proximity to the vessel.

Cunard insists the Queen Elizabeth is a "happy" ship.

More than 2,000 passengers were left stranded at the start of the action when the Ascania, the Britannic and the Saxonia cancelled their scheduled sailings from Liverpool.

The sailing of the Mauretania was then cancelled from Southampton.

On June 16 the departure of the Queen Elizabeth's sister ship the Queen Mary, had to be cancelled at the last minute when 49 members of her crew refused to sail.

martial law:戒嚴令

ocean liner:遠洋班輪