Values and Unity

Despite reservations regarding the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Poland signed the reform of the European Treaty. Without his signature, Prime Minister Donald Tusk would have been in opposition to the will of 87% of the population, which supports Warsaw’s adhesion to the EU. On the other hand, immediately after Lisbon’s solemn ceremony, the Prime Minister of Poland pointed to “a series of unequivocal signs” in “civil society” which show “that underwriting the Reform Treaty without derogations could have hindered its parliamentary ratification”. Analyses carried out in the three years since the enlargement, reveal Polish citizens’ increasing enthusiasm for the new opportunities paved by Brussels. Concern for rising inflation and unemployment has diminished, while families’ debts is decreased and the evaluation of individual material situations and of the financial situation of the Country has improved. The overall picture clearly points to the fact that Poland’s reservations on the Charter of Fundamental Rights weren’t due to economic reasons but to ethical and moral ones. Msgr. Henryk Muszynski, speaking on behalf of the Polish Bishops, remarked that the Charter “is the result of much compromise and the final text doesn’t please any of the parties involved” since “European culture is at the same time the culture of a religious and a secular civilization, and not always these can be united by a common denominator”. Polish Bishops and a part of civil society (represented by MPs), expressed their reservations especially over article 2 which guarantees the right to life to all human beings; to article 9, which does ensure “the right to marry and have a family” but which at the same time infers the possibility of having another family, different from the one based on the union between man and woman”; and article 21 of the Charter “prohibiting with the same emphasis discrimination based on religion, sex or sexual orientation”. Polish Bishops declared that on the whole the Charter “is an important attempt to pursue greater unity, not only in practical matters but also in the sphere of the fundamental values uniting European citizens”. This brings us “to hope that the EU’s commitment in the creation of an economic community comprises the creation of a community of people which is grounded on higher values, constituting its cohesive element”. In this framework, the words pronounced by Cardinal Godfried Daneels, when asked his view on the future of Poland in the EU in the year 2003, are very meaningful: “it all depends on the force of the spirit. One day, also Poland will have to face the problem of secularism. It’s inevitable, since secularization stems from the belief that man can do everything by himself, which is characteristic of our culture of wellbeing. The man who believes he can have limitless success, is putting himself in God’s place. The pace at which secularization will develop in East European Countries depends on the inner strength of the religious belief of individuals and by the strength through which they will oppose hedonist and consumerist lifestyles once the economic situation of the Country starts to improve”.