Pope says Poland should join EU, but keep values

Pope John Paul gave his blessing yesterday to Poland's bid to join the European Union but urged his mostly Roman Catholic homeland not to give up its values and identity upon joining.

The Pope saved his only remarks on the EU to the end of an emotional four-day visit, during which he warned against the evils of western-style secularism and paid homage to defenders of Poland's religious and national heritage.

The papal endorsement fell short of the ringing vote of confidence Poland's ex-communist leaders had hoped for as they gird for an entry referendum next year. Poland is the largest of 10 states hoping to join the EU in 2004.

Eurosceptics, ranging from rural populists to the religious right, seized on the Pope's earlier silence to bolster their bid to overturn a three-to-one opinion poll lead in favour of joining the rich Western bloc.

"May the spirit of... authentic concern for our homeland reign among you," the 82-year-old Pontiff said in a farewell address at Krakow airport.

"I hope that by cherishing those values the Polish nation, which has belonged to Europe for centuries, will find its due place in the structures of the European Union," the Pope said.

He hoped Poland would "not lose its own identity, but will enrich this continent and the world with this tradition".

The comments reflected concern in the Polish church and the Vatican that an EU convention considering a constitution for Europe shows little inclination to mention God in the document.

More Poles attend church than their EU counterparts and during a modern history of partition, Nazi occupation and Soviet domination, Poles have looked to the church to help preserve their identity.

The Pope and the political heirs to the communist regime he inspired Poles to overthrow have found common cause in backing EU entry, but the Church's public stance has become muted, reflecting a wish not to get embroiled in political rows.

In 1999 the Pope was blunter, telling the Polish parliament: "The integration of Poland with the European Union has been supported by the Holy See from the beginning."

Rabble-rousing populist Andrzej Lepper, who accuses Poland's leaders of selling out its struggling farmers in EU entry talks, picked up on the Pope's call to protect the poor and unemployed.

"The Holy Father is clearly not enthusiastic about the (European) Union or the changes taking place in Poland," said Lepper, leader of the Self-Defence party.