Polish ex-communist president to visit Pope .
WARSAW 1996-12-06
Poland 's ex-communist President Aleksander Kwasniewski is likely to visit Polish-born Pope John Paul in early 1997 despite uneasy relations between the Vatican and Warsaw , the foreign minister said on Friday .
" President Kwasniewski plans to visit Italy on a invitation from President Oscar Scalfaro .
A meeting with the Pope is also planned , " Dariusz Rosati told a news conference .
Rosati said that the atmosphere of the meeting , if it takes place , would largely depend on the progress in talks on ratification of a treaty between Warsaw and the Vatican .
@
The ratification of the treaty , which was signed in 1993 by the then right-centrist government , is being delayed by an ex-communist party , which won parliamentary elections in the same year and now dominates parliament .
The party , the Democratic Left Alliance , says the agreement would give the Catholic Church too much influence over life in Poland and could infringe on rights of other religious groups and non-believers .
The relations with the Vatican have also been soured by a recent relaxation of Poland 's anti-abortion rules , which Kwasniewski signed into law last month .