Pope meets Walesa at windup of his trip

June 24, 1983

Pope John Paul II left Poland Thursday after a meeting with Solidarity leader Lech Walesa at the end of a dramatic eight-day pilgrimage to his homeland. In a farewell speech, the Pope consigned the country to the care of its patron, the Virgin Mary, so that ''good may triumph over evil on this Polish soil.'' The discreet meeting with Mr. Walesa, accompanied by his wife, Danuta, and four of their children, was believed to have been held in the Tatra Mountains south of Krakow. Church and government officials declined to give details of the meeting.