Gdańsk honours Pope John Paul II and President Reagan

The new statue in Gdańsk depicting Pope John Paul II with US president Ronald Reagan. Photo: PAP/Piotr Pędziszewski

Their figures, each over two metres-high, are placed in one of the park lanes, creating an impression of the two men taking a walk together. The design is based on the famous picture taken in September 1987 by an Associated Press photographer Scott Steward of a meeting of President Reagan and Pope John Paul II in Miami.

The monument is an initiative of the local Association ‘Godność’ (Dignity). Its chairman, Czesław Nowak recalled during the unveiling ceremony John Paul II’s appeals for respecting human rights in communist Poland as well as President Reagan’s protest against the imposition of martial law in December 1981.

Earlier this year, a statue of Ronald Reagan was unveiled in the centre of Warsaw. It is inspired by President Reagan’s 1987 speech in Berlin, in which he challenged on Soviet leader Gorbachov to tear down the wall that divided the city.

Reagan’s two terms of office, from 1981 to 1989, coincided with the crumbling of the Soviet empire, the Solidarity revolution in Poland and the imposition of martial law. In June 1982 president Reagan had an audience with Pope John Paul II devoted to Poland and the Soviet domination in Europe.

President Reagan was posthumously honoured with the Order of the White Eagle – Poland’s highest state distinction. (mk/jb)