For the good of everyone

“The political crisis of recent weeks, and the disputes both within Parliament and in the media, prompt reflection on the level and the form of public debate”, say the Polish bishops in a joint statement. The Polish bishops met on 25 August for the plenary of the Episcopal Conference at the Marian sanctuary of Jasna Gora at Czestochowa. A LANGUAGE OF RESPECT . Emphasizing that “the language of a statesman and especially of a Christian cannot express hatred and aggressiveness”, the bishops underlined the need “for a spirit of charity, civil conduct and dialogue” and urged “the rejection of any form of ill-will towards other human beings who hold different opinions, and who belong to a different religion and to a different race or people”. The bishops also declared that “the mission of the mother Church and of the Catholic media ought to serve the good of the country, and not to be identified with any political group”. These words were interpreted by many commentators as critical of the actions and words of Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, Redemptorist, head of a Catholic media group (including Radio Maryja) and at the same time director of a private university. The President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference (KEP), Archbishop Jozef Michalik, commenting on Radio Maryja and its director, said that “all the necessary provisions would be taken to clear up the situation, without privileging solutions of a disciplinary character” and pointed out that the authenticity of the recordings quoted by the press have not been confirmed: according to these recordings, Father Rydzyk allegedly slandered the presidential couple and pronounced words proving his own anti-semitic attitude. Archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski of Danzig, speaking with journalists, announced that the bishops have set up a special work group with the task of drafting a letter to be addressed to the Provost General of the Redemptorist Order, Father Joseph Tobin. COLLABORATION WITH THE REGIME: SPORADIC CASES. The permanent council of the KEP also analysed the documentation furnished by the historical Commission regarding the contacts of priests with members of the secret services, in the time of the Communist regime in Poland. The results of the Commission’s work, published at the end of June, identified a group of over ten bishops, currently involved in the pastoral mission of the Catholic Church, who had been classified by the Communist security services as collaborators. The documentation compiled and furnished by the historical Commission will now be evaluated by a special group of authoritative experts in law and ethics. Its conclusions will probably be notified to the Apostolic Nunciature in Warsaw, and then to the Holy See, in October this year. According to Monsignor Slawoj Leszek Glodz, the coordinator of the Commission’s work on behalf of the KEP, the results are far more positive than had been initially assessed by historians and representatives of the media. In his view, the sporadic cases of contacts of members of the Polish clergy with the Communist secret services demonstrate that any collaboration was on a far more reduced scale than initial assessments had suggested. STUDENTS: APPEAL TO COURAGE “Be courageous and oppose any automatic propagation of opinions that deride the Church and the values of Christianity”: that’s how the Polish bishops, meeting at Jasna Gora, appeal to the students who began the new academic year on 3 September. In their letter, which has the title “Accompanying youth in their growth” and was read out in Polish churches on Sunday, 2 September, the Polish episcopate underlined that “the changes taking place in Poland since 1989 have opened up new opportunities for the young. Thanks to the opportunities provided in Polish universities to acquire knowledge in a way free from ideological lies, and thanks also to the possibilities of studying abroad, of getting to know other cultures and foreign languages, and of travelling all over the world, the generation of youth today can rediscover its own place among the peoples of Europe and of other continents”. The bishops also declare that “many young people are bearing witness to their fidelity to Christ through hard work throughout the whole year” but at the same time warn that others “often yield to the omnipresent propaganda that tries to enlist their approval by proposing an ill-considered contestation of the world of adults”. “The spread of a thoughtless way of life leads to ever greater problems, which the young have to come to terms with as soon as they have begun adult life” and consequently to the “human tragedies” that have negative repercussions on the social life of the country as a whole. “Adults cannot refuse to accompany the young in their growth”, warn the bishops.