Pauline Year, a letter from the archbishop of Krakow “There are many people who still don’t know Christ, while many others have drifted away from Him”. This phrase is contained in the pastoral letter written by the archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, issued on the occasion of the Pauline Year. “In current debates on crucial issues regarding our lives, addressed by authorities and politicians alike, the Christian view on man and the family is out of the picture”, His Eminence claimed. He explained that in Poland many don’t declare their religious beliefs in public because they fear they would be considered intolerant or old-fashioned. Many don’t even react when the truths of faith and its moral principles are ridiculed. “They are leading us to believe – the Cardinal affirmed – that religion pertains to the private sphere and therefore it should not interfere with the social, political and economic realms”. The effects of this approach are already visible: the number of divorced families is on the increase while parents’ solicitude for the religious formation of their children is fading away. The day of the Pope: the family, youth and peace “We all have at heart families’ happiness, the youth’s education and world peace”, claimed the archbishop of Warsaw Msgr. Kazimierz Nycz on June 30th, during the solemn Mass held on the occasion of the “Day of the Pope”. While encouraging all faithful to cooperate with the Church for the resolution of crucial issues, the archbishop of Warsaw pointed out that the powerful words pronounced by John Paul II, “Do not be afraid” are being reiterated today with special emphasis through the smile of Benedict XVI. “The Church understands the fears and concerns of those who find it hard to receive the Gospel”, declared the archbishop, “this is why, with patient understanding, she perseveres in her proclamation of the Good News”. The “Day of the Pope” was established by Poland’s Bishops’ Conference three years ago, to highlight the unity of the local Church with Peter’s Successor. As it coincided with the inauguration of the Pauline Year, this year’s celebration was postponed to June 30th. The solemn Mass was celebrated in the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Warsaw by the apostolic nuncio to Poland Msgr. Jozef Kowalczyk, to the presence of Cardinal Jozef Glemp and of representatives of the episcopate, of government authorities and of the diplomatic corps. The rebirth of the Jewish Community”Today, 60 years since the end of World War II, when the Nazis and the Holocaust tore apart our historical chain, Poland’s Jewish Community is undergoing full reconstruction,”, declared rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler, director of the Yeshiva Chabad Lubavitch in Warsaw (the academy founded in 2005), on the occasion of the ceremony for the awarding of the diploma in rabbinical studies to 10 students past June 29th. “Until a few years ago I was the only rabbi in Poland, while today there are seven of us”, pointed out Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland’s Jewish Community. During the ceremony, Shevach Weiss, ex-ambassador of the State of Israel to Poland, recalled that Poland’s Rabbinical Council was restored past February. The Council had been outlawed along with the Jewish Communities in 1945 by the Communist Party, which replaced them with the so-called congregations controlled by the secret services and stripped of legal personality. In his remarks regarding the report on anti-Semitism published in 2006 by the European Jewish Congress, rabbi Michael Schudrich pointed out that “anti-Semitic stereotypes are blatantly false”. He pointed out that “a number of Countries indicated as anti-Semitic, should not be defined as such”, adding that anti-Semitic behaviour is more frequently registered in Western Europe, viewed as liberal and free. In fact, the latest report issued by the European Jewish Congress on the relations between Jews and non-Jews in Europe in the years 2005-2007, mentions only one episode of anti-Semitism in Poland (during a program broadcast by Radio Maryja), while there appear to be a higher number of cases in the United Kingdom, Russia and Ukraine. Indeed, the Jewish Festival of Krakow, one of the most important cultural events of the Jewish world, was held in Poland a few days ago (27 June – 6 July). The Festival, which reached its 18th edition, will host onehundred events, including concerts, exhibitions and conferences.
