More on mercy in politics emerges from an international seminar that I attended in Brussels today, â??The Treasure of Solidarity: Lessons for Europe.â? Sponsored by the Centre for the Thought of John Paul II in Warsaw, the seminar assembled a fascinating group of mostly Polish politicians and intellectuals, many of whom were active in the Solidarity movement of the 1970s and 1980s that overthrew Polandâ??s Communist government in 1989, leading, in turn, to the end of the Soviet empire and to the end of the Cold War.
Reflecting back on Solidarity, they identified several extraordinary features. First, it brought together in a sense of community sectors of society who would not otherwise be inclined to associate with one another â?? workers, managers, farmers, and intellectuals. Second, it was arguably the first truly working class movement to overthrow a government â?? ironic, given the Communist regimeâ??s claim to represent the working class. Third, it was a rare revolution in that it succeeded without collapsing into revenge or war. Fourth, relatedly, it was non-violent. Fifth, it was a Christian revolution, undergirded by Catholic thought and the leadership of John Paul II.
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