Reagan to Poland: Use Pope's visit as a bridge

June 24, 1983

President Reagan asked the Warsaw government Thursday to use Pope John Paul II's visit as a bridge to national reconciliation. ''No one can crush the spirit of the Polish people,'' he said before several hundred members of the Polish National Alliance, the largest organization of Polish-Americans. Mr. Reagan said public reaction to the Pontiff's visit to his homeland provided clear evidence that ''the gulf separating the Polish people from their government remains vast.''