The Pariah and the Pope

St. Peter's Square was sealed off. On a nearby avenue, while police watched intently, dozens of demonstrators cried "Shame!" and "Assassin!" Soon the object of their fury, Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, emerged from the Basilica wearing a red-and-white sash and a large smile. He had just spent 35 minutes in private with Pope John Paul II.

It was Waldheim's first official trip outside Austria since his election in June 1986. His European neighbors had shunned him, and the U.S. has barred | visits by the former United Nations Secretary-General because of allegations that he was an accomplice to Nazi war crimes...

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