Awaiting Benedict XVI

There’s a climate of great expectation for the first pastoral visit of Benedict XVI, who will leave Rome for Warsaw on Thursday morning, 25 May, and remain in Poland till Sunday 28 May. Apart from the capital, the papal journey will take in – among others – Czestochowa, Krakow, and Wadowice (birthplace of Karol Wojtyla). Significant visits will be made to the sanctuaries of Jasna Gora and Divine Mercy at Krakow-Lagiewniki and to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau. We have interviewed the general secretary of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Piotr Libera . Monsignor Libera, how do you assess this first visit of the Pope? “We see this apostolic journey as a great gift of Divine Providence, and also a sign of the very concrete love of the supreme pastor of the Church for the ecclesial community living in Poland. Listening to the Pope’s words, we will all be called to find the strength and also a new intuition to understand the ‘signs of the time’ and interpret them better”. What the country’s situation on the civil and political fronts? “The situation is rather complex, in a phase of transition. It’s not yet clear where we’re heading. The most fraught and delicate questions facing us are those of the family, which is the most burning issue, so much so that the episcopate has decided to place it at the top of its agenda in future pastoral programmes. Then there’s the issue of unemployment, which is falling but still remains very high. Healthcare too is in crisis and many physicians and nurses are leaving the country is search of better conditions elsewhere. Another issue is that of the education of the young: the new government has formulated a project for a new system of national education. Then there’s the party politicking: i.e. the tendency in political action to give precedence to partisan interests rather than to the higher interest of the ‘common good'”. How is ecumenical dialogue going in the country? “It is developing and positive thanks to the role of the Polish Ecumenical Council. We have forms of collaboration with the Orthodox and Evangelical communities, for example in the charitable field. I must say there’s great interest and expectation among our brothers of the non-Catholic Churches for the forthcoming visit of Benedict XVI”. What’s the situation of vocations in Poland today? “Thank God we still have numerous vocations to the priesthood and to religious life, even though vocations to the women’s religious congregations of active life are declining. On the other hand, vocations to cloistered life show no signs of falling off. Our deepest concern today is not so much the ‘quantity’ as the ‘quality’ of vocations”. Are the young generations motivated to belong to the Church or are they beginning, as in Western Europe, to abandon the faith? “In our country too the youth world is registering both positive and negative trends. Very large numbers of youth are still strongly attached to the Church and to the Christian tradition. Thanks to the presence of many ecclesial movements, youth initiatives are thriving, for example the one announced in recent days for a collection of signatures among the young, in a book that will be presented to the Pope and that has the title ‘I don’t take drugs'”. How do people regard Poland’s membership of the European Union? “Two years after Poland’s accession to the EU, it can be said that the critical voices have all but disappeared. There’s more optimism as regards the EU among citizens, because people have seen that no ‘earthquake’ has occurred, indeed the economic situation is improving. If there is a problem it is that, thanks to the opening of the frontiers, thousands of young people are leaving the country. It is said that over 100,000 youth have already emigrated to Ireland, the UK, Portugal, Spain and other countries. This has consequences for the family, for marriage and also for our pastoral ministry: we now need to find priests to assist the many Polish emigrants in various foreign countries”. FACT FILE Poland is a country overwhelmingly of Catholic faith. The most recent statistics speak of 36.61 million Catholics out of a total population of 38.2 million (95.8%). The Church is divided into 45 dioceses, with 10,114 parishes and some 800 other pastoral centres. There are 133 bishops, 22,221 diocesan priests, and 6,325 religious priests, for a total of over 28,500 priests in service. There are only 7 permanent deacons. The number of non-ordained religious is also relatively low (1,522). On the other hand, women religious (23,304), members of secular institutes (1,081) and catechists (14,418) are numerous. The situation of seminaries is also good, with 1,803 “minor”, 6,427 “major” seminarians and a ratio of 22.5 major seminarians for every hundred priests in service. Poland also has over 1700 Catholic schools and several Catholic universities. Other Catholic institutions are hospitals (33), clinics (244), family advice centres (1,820), retirement homes (267), orphanages (538) and social centres (1.462).