“The Church in Poland asks for no privilege, but demands respect for the autonomy guaranteed to her by the Constitution and the Concordat”, declare the Polish bishops, in a statement issued at the end of their plenary assembly, held in Warsaw on 18-19 October. They explain the decision to institute an Historical Commission that, “in liaison with the existing diocesan commissions, will examine the history of the persecution of the Church in Poland in the post-war period”. “Before any organized opposition arose in the country – say the bishops – the Church was alone for decades in defending the dignity of man and of the nation”, thus becoming “the most persecuted and attacked institution” in the country. Poland is “now an independent and democratic country”, but until 1989 “the actions of the criminal apparatus of the secret services of the Communist State forced both laypeople and priests to collaborate, through blackmail and threats. Only in this context – warn the bishops – is it possible to evaluate individual cases” of alleged “collaboration with the security services”. “The Church cannot acquiesce in a situation in which the human dignity of individuals is attacked with public accusations, outside any judicial proceeding”, conclude the bishops, declaring their “solidarity” with the individuals who have “been wronged” and promising them that the new Commission would “help them to discover the truth”. During their assembly, the Polish bishops also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the events of October 1956, when Cardinal Wyszynski, who had been kept prisoner for three years by the Communist authorities, regained his freedom and other bishops who had been interned or removed from their dioceses could return to them. The agenda of the plenary also included an appeal to “tackle social and political problems so that the primary aim be wise solicitude for the common good of Poland and the Polish people”, with particular attention to the “problems currently being suffered by the Polish family, also due to large-scale emigration to seek work abroad”. The bishops also decided to set up a Youth Council to “coordinate all the forms of youth pastoral care”.
