[Grem] How influential is Poland's Catholic Church?

[Emoke Greschik]

How influential is Poland’s Catholic Church?
by *Ben Sixsmith <http://catholicherald.co.uk/author/ben-sixsmith/>*
posted Thursday, 14 Dec 2017
http://catholicherald.co.uk/issues/december-15th-2017/how-
influential-is-polands-catholic-church/
People take part in a mass rosary prayer along the Polish border (Getty
Images)

*Western media paints* *Poland **as a hotbed of extreme nationalism.* *The
truth is far more complicated*

*John Paul II is everywhere in Poland. His face smiles down from
photographs*. He stands in statue form. I have a little stone engraving of
his face – I don’t know where it came from. If somebody came here and knew
little of the Church they would think he, not Francis, was Pope.

This is unsurprising. John Paul II was not just Polish: he received the
papacy as Poland struggled in the grip of communism. His tenure was a
source of immense national pride. Millions of Poles are sincere practising
Catholics, but faith blurs into patriotism and politics.

*Poland burst into the headlines on November 11, when a march to celebrate
the nation’s Independence Day featured chants of “Pure Poland, white
Poland!”* and an appearance by the Italian fascist Roberto Fiore. *Analysts
who are by no means favourable to nationalism have concluded that most of
the marchers were not extremists, but the undeniable rightwards shift in
Poland has attracted attention to its politics and religion.*

*In October, more than a million Poles gathered around their nation’s
borders to hold rosaries and pray. This marked the feast of Our Lady of the
Rosary, which celebrates the triumph of the Holy League over the Ottoman
navy at the Battle of Lepanto.*

It would be foolish to deny that participants were inspired by their
concerns about Islamic fundamentalism.* Poles have been unnerved by images
of terrorism in their Western neighbours’ cities, and Catholics have been
appalled by the killing of Fr Jacques Hamel and the attacks on Notre-Dame
Cathedral. *Whatever one thinks of this, it would be unfair to believe that
t*he border prayer *was a political stunt. It* coincided with several other
anniversaries, significant for Catholics and Poles, such as the 100th
anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. Participants revealed motivations
such as thanking God for their children as well seeking protection against
terrorists.*

*As the Law and Justice party (PiS) has come to dominate Polish politics
there has been a shift towards social conservatism. Muslim refugees have
been denied settlement in Poland; an absolute prohibition on abortion was
considered; Sunday shopping looks as if it will be banned. Such rulings
divide liberal and conservative Poles (though the latter two issues, it
must be said, more starkly than the first).*

*The Church **influences PiS, both because of the party’s dependence on
Catholic voters and because of its leaders’ and members’ own beliefs. Beata
Szydło, Poland’s outgoing prime minister, has a son who is a priest. PiS,
however, is no mere arm of the Church. The campaign to prohibit Sunday
trading was led by the trade union Solidarity, famous for its resistance to
communism.*

*Meanwhile, bishops – notably Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno, who
sits on the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Itinerant People – have encouraged the government to accept refugees,
echoing the Pope’s words when he visited the country.* *PiS, however,
prioritises nationalism in this case, demonstrating its political
independence.* *To the extent that Poland’s rightwards turn is driven from
the top, it is a governmental more than clerical phenomenon.*

*The Polish Church **is not monolithic. Like most religious institutions,
it has reactionary, conservative and liberal trends. On the more
progressive side is the magazine Tygodnik Powszechny. The Polish right,
meanwhile, draws inspiration from Radio Maryja, run by the maverick Fr
Tadeusz Rydzyk, a controversial figure for his hardline social views. Fr
Rydzyk has an awkward alliance with the government and broadcasts to an
increasingly aged audience. But he is still far closer to power than he
might have anticipated when, in 2011, he declared that “Poles do not lead
Poland” in the European Parliament.*

*The Independence Day parade was organised in part by the National Radical
Camp (ONR), a movement formed, in its words, with the aim of “bringing
together young Poles who are close to such values as God, Honour, Homeland,
Family, Tradition and Friendship”. The first point in their declaration of
values is that “salvation in God is the ultimate goal of man”, and the
second is that “the nation is the highest earthly value”. Harking back to
pre-war nationalists who, inspired by Franco, advocated Catholic
authoritarianism, the ONR began as a radical group demonstrating on the
anniversaries of anti-Jewish riots, but have developed a broader and more
savvy platform from which to promote their Polish Falangism.*

*Church attendance* *has declined in* *Poland **over recent years*,* and
birth rates* *are far lower than one might expect.* Anyone seeking a
bastion of traditionalism would be bitterly disappointed.

*Yet the pews were fuller last year than** in 2015,* *and Poland’s
government and millions of its citizens resist **progressivism** in their
politics and in their faith.* *This trend has social, cultural and
political aspects which should not be oversimplified. Poles argue all the
time about government and God.*

*Still, it sets them apart from* *their Western neighbours*. *All are
drifting – the important question is where.*

*Ben Sixsmith is an English writer living in Poland*
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