A reflection on the main aspects of religious and social life in Poland was made by Pope Benedict XVI in the audience granted to a group of Polish bishops on their “ad limina” visit on Saturday 17 December. Led by Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the group was the last of a series of three. In a speech addressed to Benedict XVI at the beginning of the audience, Glemp recalled among other things “the tradition stretching over a millennium of fidelity to the Pope and to the Roman Church” of the bishops of Poland, “conscious he added of never having abjured this fidelity”. Recalling the Church’s apostolic and pastoral efforts in Poland, the archbishop of Warsaw also emphasized “the great progress made in ecumenical dialogue, both with the Orthodox and with the Protestant communities”. He then described the service of the two Catholic universities the one in Lublin, the other dedicated to Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski in Warsaw -, as well as the role of the theological faculties of the capital and of Olsztyn for the diffusion of Catholic thought and culture. Benedict XVI, for his part, emphasized the role of the laity, alongside the clergy and religious, in animating parish groups, associations, movements and the Catholic volunteer service. He then recalled that many movements “have established a living contact with the non-Catholic Churches”, thus making an “important contribution in the work of fostering ecumenical ties”.
