Warsaw and the church agree on aid channel

Poland's Roman Catholic Church and the government have agreed to establish a church-run foundation that will administer millions of dollars from the West to help revive the nation's economy, sources said.

The agreement appeared to be part of a larger deal struck by the church in which informed sources said the Vatican agreed to urge Solidarity founder Lech Walesa to step aside in return for a pledge to lift martial law and enact reforms.

In a report from Gdansk, Poland, sources close to Mr. Walesa said Pope John Paul II told him in their private meeting that Solidarity should ally itself closely with the Polish Catholic Church.