Pope
Benedict XVI's general prayer intention for
July is: 'That all citizens, individually and
in groups, may be enabled to participate actively
in the life and management of the common good.'
His mission intention is: 'That, aware of their
own missionary duty, all Christians may actively
help all those engaged in the evangelization
of peoples.' [Vatican Information Service] 1367.3
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Saint
Basil
St.
Basil, defined in Byzantine liturgical texts
as a 'light of the Church,' was the subject
of the Holy Father's catechesis during yesterday's
general audience. The audience, attended by
12,000 people, was held in the Vatican Basilica
then continued in the Paul VI Hall. St. Basil,
the Pope explained, was born in the 4th century.
'Dissatisfied with his worldly successes and
... attracted by Christ, ... he dedicated himself
to a monastic life in prayer ... and in the
practice of charity.' The Church in both East
and West, he added, 'looks to him admiringly
for the sanctity of his life, the excellence
of his doctrine and the harmonic blend of his
intellectual and practical gifts. Through his
preaching and writing,' this saint, who became
bishop Caesarea in 370, 'undertook an intense
pastoral, theological and literary activity'
and 'supported the foundation of many 'fraternities'
or communities of Christians consecrated to
God, whom he visited frequently.' St. Basil
'is one of the fathers of monasticism. ... He
created a special form of monasticism, not closed
to the local church community but open to it.
... His monks formed part of the particular
Church, the driving nucleus that preceded the
faithful in discipleship of Christ, and not
only in faith ... and love, ... but also through
works of charity. The monks ran schools and
hospitals and served the poor, thus demonstrating
the integrity of their Christian life. As bishop
and pastor of his vast diocese, Basil was constantly
concerned by the difficult conditions in which
his faithful lived, firmly denouncing all evils.
... And he would intervene with government leaders
to alleviate the sufferings of the people. ...
He safeguarded the freedom of the Church, opposing
even the powerful in order to defend the right
to profess the true faith.' St. Basil, who bore
witness to the fact that 'God is love and charity,'
also founded various institutions for the most
needy, which became a model for modern hospitals.
While maintaining his concern with charity as
a sign of faith, Basil 'considered the liturgy
as the focus of his life,' and 'was also a wise
liturgical reformer. ... At his encouragement,
the people came to know and love the Psalms.
... He was able to oppose heretics ... and dedicated
his energies to healing divisions within the
Church. Following a plan he himself had devised,
he became apostle and minister of Christ, ...
herald of the Kingdom of God, model and rule
of piety, ... pastor of Christ's flock, pious
doctor, father and nurse, God's helper and laborer,
builder of the Lord's temple. This,' the Pope
concluded, 'is the plan that the holy bishop
passes on to us, especially to those who announce
the Word. He was a man ... who showed us how
to be truly Christian.' [Vatican Information
Service] (And see 'Quote') 1367.4
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'Fundamental
objective is the Family'
This
morning, Thurday, in the Vatican, the Holy Father
received prelates from the Conference of the
Dominican Episcopate, who today completed their
"ad limina" visit.
"The
fundamental aim of your pastoral ministry,"
the Pope told the bishops, "must be to
ensure that the truth about Christ and the truth
about man penetrate still more deeply into the
various levels of Dominican society." This
task, said Benedict XVI, "not without difficulties,
takes place among a people whose spirit is open
and sensitive to the Good News." Despite
the fact that in the Dominican Republic there
are evident "symptoms of a process of secularization
in which, for many people, God does not represent
the source, the goal, or the ultimate meaning
of life, in the end, as you well know, this
people has a profoundly Christian soul."
"Another
of the fundamental objectives of new evangelization,"
he continued, "is the family." In
this context, he gave assurances that the Church
supports families against "the great challenges
they have to face," and "encourages
them in their faith, safeguarding their perseverance
in a Christian project for life, often subject
to so many vicissitudes and dangers." The
Holy Father highlighted how the Church seeks
to ensure that "the family remains a real
environment in which a person is born,
grows up and is educated for life, and in which
parents, in their tender love for their children,
prepare them for healthy interpersonal relationships
that incarnate human and moral values in the
midst of a society so marked by hedonism and
religious indifference."
After stressing the need for the State authorities
"to collaborate still more in the indispensable
task of working in favor of families,"
the Pope affirmed that he was not unaware of
"the difficulties facing the institution
of the family in the country, especially with
the drama of divorce and pressures to legalize
abortion, as well as the spread of unions not
in accordance with the Creator's design for
marriage." Promoting
priestly and religious vocations, said Benedict
XVI, "must be a priority for bishops and
a commitment for all the faithful. ... In addition
to integral formation, profound discernment
of the human and Christian suitability of seminarians
is required, so as to as to give the best possible
guarantee of the dignified practice of their
future ministry."
The Pope noted how in the field of migration
the bishops dedicate "much energy to caring
for groups of Dominicans abroad," and he
called upon them "to accompany with great
charity, as you do already, Haitian immigrants
who have left their country seeking better living
conditions for themselves and their families."
On the subject of the evangelization of culture,
the Holy Father pointed out that "in this
task we cannot overlook the social communications
media: radio, television productions, videos
and computer networks can be very useful for
a wider diffusion of the Gospel. This task devolves
particularly upon the laity."
Benedict XVI underlined the need to ensure that
lay people receive "adequate religious
formation, so as to enable them to face the
numerous challenges of modern society. It is
their task to promote human and Christian values
that illuminate the political, economic and
cultural life of the country, with the aim of
instituting a more just and more equitable social
order, in accordance with the Social Doctrine
of the Church."
"At
the same time, in accordance with ethical and
moral norms, [the laity] must provide an example
of honesty and transparency in the management
of public affairs, in the face of the unseen
and widespread blight of corruption, which at
times even touches areas of political and economic
power, as well as other spheres of public and
social life'. [Vatican Information Service]
1367.4a
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Summorum
Pontificum
A
papal document widening use of the 1962 Roman
Missal will be released on July 7, the Roman
news agency I Media says, confirming reports
that circulated late in June. The motu propriowill
be entitled Summorum Pontificum, I Media
adds. The title of the Pope's document had not
previously been mentioned in the media, despite
numerous reports of its existence and intense
speculation over its contents. The German-language
agency Kath.net reported on June 27 that the
document by Pope Benedict XVI will be released
on Saturday, July 7. The Kath.net story appeared
after a special Vatican meeting in which a small
group of prelates were briefed about the contents
of the motu proprio. The Vatican press
office later confirmed that the meeting had
taken place, but did not confirm the publication
date for the document. The motu propriois
reportedly a 3-page document. It will be released
in conjunction with a 4-page explanatory letter
in which the Pope sets out his reason for encouraging
the use of the pre-conciliar liturgy as an 'extraordinary'
form of the Latin rite. [CWNews] 1367.5
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Authentic
freedom
Authentic
freedom finds its meaning in love and serving
others, says Benedict XVI. This was the conclusion
of the meditation the Pope delivered on Sunday
before praying the Angelus with the crowds gathered
in St. Peter's Square. He centred his address
on the theme, inspired by the Gospel for Sunday's
liturgy, 'freedom and the following of Christ.'.
The Evangelist Luke recounts that Jesus, 'as
the days in which he would be taken from the
world were approaching, resolutely turned toward
Jerusalem,'' the Holy Father said. The Pontiff
said that the freedom of Christ was marked by
a firm determination: 'He knows in fact that
death on the cross is waiting for him in Jerusalem,
but in obedience to the will of the Father he
offers himself up for love. 'It is in his obedience
to the Father that Jesus realizes his freedom
as a conscious choice motivated by love.' Benedict
XVI continued: 'He did not live his freedom,
however, as license or dominion. He lived it
as service. 'In this way he 'filled' with content
a freedom that would have otherwise remained
an 'empty' possibility to do or not do something.
As the life itself of man, freedom takes its
meaning from love. Who is more free,' the Pope
asked, 'the one who holds onto all possibilities
for fear of losing them, or the one who 'resolutely'
gives himself in service and thus finds himself
full of life because of the love that he has
given and received?' Christian freedom, the
Holy Father added, 'is following Christ in the
gift of self, right up to the sacrifice on the
cross. It might seem paradoxical,' he continued,
'but the Lord lived the culmination of his freedom
on the cross, as the pinnacle of love.' The
Pontiff drew a parallel between Christ and 'many
other witnesses to truth' who have 'remained
free even in a prison cell and under the threat
of torture. Those who belong to the truth will
never be the slave of any power, but will always
know how to freely be the servant of their brothers,'
said Benedict XVI. The Pope added that the Virgin
Mary is the 'the model of the spiritual person,
totally free because she is immaculate, immune
to sin, and completely holy, dedicated to the
service of God and neighbour. [Zenit] 1367.6
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Day
of prayer for the Church in China
Benedict
XVI has marked May 24, the memorial of Our Lady,
Help of Christians, as a day of prayer for the
Church in China. The Pope announced this in
the 'Letter of the Holy Father Benedict XVI
to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons
and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the
People's Republic of China,' published Saturday
by the Vatican. The Pope explains in the letter
that 'Our Lady, Help of Christians [...] is
venerated with great devotion at the Marian
Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. In the future
become an occasion for the Catholics of the
whole world to be united in prayer with the
Church which is in China,' he writes. The Pope
continues: 'I would like that date to be kept
by you as a day of prayer for the Church in
China. I encourage you to celebrate it by renewing
your communion of faith in Jesus our Lord and
of faithfulness to the Pope, and by praying
that the unity among you may become ever deeper
and more visible.' [Zenit] 1367.7
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Apostolic
visit to Austria
Benedict XVI is due to make an apostolic trip
to Austria from September 7 to 9, for the 850th
anniversary of the foundation of the Shrine
of Mariazell. The visit to the Marian shrine
located in the foothills of the Austrian Alps,
the most popular in central Europe, will take
place on September 8, Feast of the Nativity
of the Virgin. It will be the Holy Father's
second apostolic trip outside Italy of 2007,
following his journey to Brazil in May when
he visited Sao Paulo and Aparecida for the Fifth
General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin
America and the Caribbean. The official program
of the Austria trip is to be published soon.
[Vatican Information Service] 1367.8
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Religious
indifference and relativism
Religious
indifference and relativism require a response
from pastors of the Church, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this on Saturday to the bishops
of Puerto Rico, who were in Rome for their five-yearly
visit. Analysing the situation of the Caribbean
island, the Holy Father, speaking in Spanish,
said: 'Over the last few years many things have
changed in the social, economic and even religious
field, at times opening the way to religious
indifference and to a certain moral relativism
that influences Christian practices and which,
indirectly, also affects the structures of society.
This religious situation calls out to you as
pastors and requires that you remain united,
in order to make the presence of the Lord more
palpable among mankind through joint pastoral
initiatives that respond to these new realities.'
The Pontiff also noted 'the spread of a mentality
inspired by secularism which, more or less consciously,
gradually leads to derision or ignorance of
the sacred, relegating faith to a merely private
sphere.
A
correct notion of religious freedom is not compatible
with such an ideology, which at times presents
itself as the only voice of reason,' he added.
Benedict XVI said the family 'finds itself beset
by the many snares of the modern world, such
as overriding materialism, the quest for immediate
pleasure and the lack of stability and faithfulness
in couples.' He continued: 'This panorama demonstrates
the need to intensify, as you are already, an
incisive form of pastoral care of families,
to help Christian couples accept the fundamental
values of the sacrament they have received.
Therefore, through your teachings, faithful
to Christ, proclaim the truth of the family
as a domestic Church and sanctuary of life,
in the face of certain trends that, in today's
society, try to eclipse or confuse the unique
and irreplaceable value of marriage between
man and woman.' The Pope mentioned the rights
of youth, noting that 'religious indifference
and the temptation to an easy moral permissiveness,
as well as ignorance of the Christian tradition
with its rich spiritual patrimony, exert a great
influence over new generations. Young people
have the right, from the very beginnings of
their formation process, to be educated in the
faith,' he said. 'For this reason, in the integral
education of the very young, religious education
must not be neglected, also in schools,' the
Holy Father affirmed. 'A solid religious formation
will be, therefore, an effective protection
from the advancement of sects and other religious
groups widely diffused today.' [Zenit] 1367.9
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Laity
on the front line
The laity are on the front lines and irreplaceable
in the work of evangelization, said Archbishop
Stanislaw Rylko. The president of the Pontifical
Council for the Laity made this statement on
Saturday during a Mass at the Basilica of St.
John Lateran for the participants of a five-day
lay ministries meeting organized by the Lay
Center at Foyer Unitas in Rome, and the U.S.
episcopal conference. The conference was titled
'Co-workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: Laity
in the Church Yesterday and Today.' Quoting
theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Archbishop
Rylko said: 'To be a lay Christian in the Church
is precisely a vocation, in fact, it is the
most important calling. The uniqueness of the
lay vocation consists in the fact of being a
Christian while living immersed in the world.
This vocation is derived from the sacrament
of baptism,' the 61-year-old prelate explained
in his homily. Archbishop Rylko stated: 'The
laity have their particular responsibility for
the life of the Christian community in the local
Church. It is an essential, great and beautiful
vocation!' He added, however, that 'to be a
lay Christian in the world today is not easy.
The world tries to contain God exclusively in
the private sphere of the individual,' the archbishop
continued, while 'the appropriate autonomy of
the secular order is often confused with a militant
secularism that seeks to eliminate God from
public life. To be a lay Christian in our times
requires courage,' the archbishop said, continuing,
'because of this, it is extremely important
to not forget that being Christian is a vocation:
God himself calls us and sends us into the world.'
Archbishop Rylko affirmed that a lay 'vocation
is a gratuitous gift of God, who selects us
and calls us without our meriting it.' [Zenit]
1367.10
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Europe
Gordon
Brown's appointee will support 'population control'
Mr
Brown's nomination of Baroness Amos to the role
of European Union (EU) Special Representative
to the African Union could mean an increase
in Western pressure upon Africans to accept
population control. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political
secretary, said: 'As a government minister,
Baroness Amos defended the British government's
complicity in China's population control programme
via its support for the United Nations Population
Fund, the International Planned Parenthood Federation
and Marie Stopes International. China uses Western
resources to manage its one-child policy of
forced abortions and forced sterilisations.
Baroness Amos also promoted 'universal access
to reproductive health' - a phrase normally
understood to include abortion on demand - as
'central to attainment of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs)' (Lords Hansard, 7th January 2003)
\[SPUC] 1367.11
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The
EU finances sexually-explicit YouTube clip
European
Union (EU) parliamentarian Dr. Maciej Giertych
of Poland is leading criticism of a sexually
explicit 44-second YouTube spot on European
cinema, entitled 'Film Lovers Will Love This.'
The clip, for which the EU Commission paid as
part of a project to promote European film,
includes homosexual sex scenes. EU spokesman
Margot Wallstrom said, 'It's not a question
of pornography,' while the EU Commissioner for
Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding,
commented, 'The real scandal are the polemics
over a work which at the Berlin Film Festival
had the best reception. [CWNews] 1367.12
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A
Catholic layman confronts the new secularist
order of the EU
In
an article in June 21st edition of 'The
Wanderer', 'A Catholic Layman Confronts
the New Secularist Order of the European Union',
James Likoudis writes: 'In his interesting
and privately printed booklet European Values
(available from the author, 60 rue Wiertz,
1047 Bruxells, and also at www.opoka.giertych.pl/),
Maciej Giertych, a Polish member of the European
Parliament, reveals his struggle to defend fundamental
human and Christian values from the 'atheistic,
socialist, and other anti-Christian forces'
which exercise an unfortunate influence in the
legislative and other decisions of the European
Union's Parliament.
As
a member of the European Parliament, Dr. Giertych
has impressive scientific, academic, and political
credentials. The author of 230 scientific papers
dealing with forest science, he represented
Poland at the International Council of the International
Union of Forest Research Organizations (UFRO)
from 1986-1995.
He
is a lifelong opponent of Communism. He served
from 1986-1990 as a member and vice-chairman
of the Primatial Council of Poland's Cardinal
Glemp. On the invitation of Pope John Paul II
he was invited as a lay observer to the 1987
Synod of Bishops in Rome which discussed the
role of the laity in the Church.
In
2001 representing the League of Polish Families,
he was elected to the Polish Parliament, and
in 2004 he was elected to the European Parliament.
'It
is time,' he writes, 'we sat back and took the
effort to discuss what we really mean by European
values. What we should adhere to and what we
should reject.' He does not hesitate to list
such values as the defense of life from conception
to natural death; the nuclear family composed
of a husband and wife and children; the personal
dignity of each human being; special respect
for women as being of unique value to society;
freedom of speech and religious freedom and
tolerance of minority religions; the maintenance
of national identity with tolerance for national
and ethnic minorities; law and jurisprudence
based on justice derived from natural law and
the Christian ethic; the power of the state
utilized to protect the citizens from harm and
not to defend the rulers from the citizens.
Unfortunately,
he points out, these cherished values so indispensable
to a genuinely democratic society and popularly
considered to be basically supported by the
Berlin Declaration of March 25, 2007, are, in
fact, brought into question. The Berlin Declaration
'lacks any reference to God, to religion, or
to the soul.' The Declaration was signed by
only three people, the president of the European
Parliament, the current president of the European
Union, and the president of the European Commission
(two Germans and a Portuguese), and not by all
the heads of state that met in Berlin tocelebrate
the 50th anniversary of the European Union,
as suggested by the media.
As
Dr. Giertych observes, 'The Declaration simply
means that there are no transcendent values,
no measure that is independent of man... . It
is not enough to say democracy must have Man
at its center. Which man?. . . Europe is a continent
built on Greek culture, Roman law, and the Christian'ethic.
Excluding the latter from the consideration
of European values not only impoverishes them,
but it also makes them meaningless.'
Our
author, a Catholic member of the European Parliament,
writes that 'the whole European concept of justice
is based on adherence to a set of God-given
rules, the Decalogue, and its extension in the
Beatitudes.' With the entrenchment of secular
humanism in the corridors of the European Union,
moral and political opposition to the social
evils of divorce, contraception, abortion, sodomy,
euthanasia, pornography, and drug abuse are
radically undercut. The spread of moral and
social evils destructive of personal dignity,
family, marriage, and a decent society is ensured
with the Christian religion eliminated from
consideration as a force resisting the growth
of a new secularist totalitarianism.
It
should be noted that Dr. Giertych had earlier
published and distributed free copies of his
booklet Civilizations at War in Europe (available
at his web site, cited above), which created
a storm of controversy in the Parliament and
the media. For his frank estimate of the ideological
culture war taking place in post-World War II
Europe, he was subjected to accusations of being
a racist, an anti-Semite, a xenophobe, a homophobe,
and having 'disrespect for human values.'
Traces
of this kind of intimidation and shameful attempts
at censorship which met our author are also
increasingly evident on the American scene where
the same powerful voices similarly regard Christianity
as the 'enemy of man.' American readers will
be astonished to learn that Giertych was also
accused of 'infringing on rule no. 1 of this
Parliament - 'do not mention World War IL'
It
was his adamant defense of Catholic morality
across the entire pro-life spectrum, which particularly
earned him the animosity of the European Union's
soulless bureaucrats and technocrats. The reader
of the booklet will learn the details of the
harassment and bullying and attempts at censorship
he encountered.
Dr.
Giertych's 27-page European Values is a stirring
echo of Pope Benedict XVI's addresses and critical
commentary on the state of a modern Europe whose
new elites are furthering the 'culture of death'
in Europe. Like his Polish Predecessor who had
called upon all Catholics to resist the radical
secularization of culture and politics threatening
the dignity of the human person, so Pope Benedict
has insisted that 'the source of inspiration
for a more just and united, reconciled, and
peaceful society must always be the Gospel and
the Church's social doctrine. The commitment
to halt violence and initiatives aimed at promoting
fullness of life, democratic order, and the
common good...are not grounds for the exclusion
of the Church's voice in the political order
but for mutual enrichment' (Address to Youth,
May 10, 2007. in Brazil).
Dr.
Giertych has given a powerful witness to the
role Catholic laity must play in contemporary
society. In a brilliant paper delivered to the
Society of Catholic Social Scientists, Dr. Glenn
Olsen noted how Hans Urs von Balthasar had 'described
the modem Western soul as an 'anima technica
vacua- with Catherine Pickstock 'describing
the contemporary city as a necropolis which
denies eternity and transcendence.'
Other
critics have similarly noted how 'the attempt
to sever the present from the past has formed
our public spaces, the gods have been driven
off, and we have lost our own history. Tremendous
pressures are placed on all the religions of
the West to accomodsate and assimilate to global,
commercial, liberal civilization, never to stand
in prophetic witness against it'.
Giertych
has shown how a Catholic layman can stand in
prophetic witness against the dissolution of
society by neo-pagan forces and for the culture
of life, and for Jesus Christ who has already
overcome the world but asks us to participate
in His Victory.
Following are Dr. Giertych's answers to some
questions submitted to him by this writer:
Q.
Has there been any reaction to your European
Values on the part of legislators and the media?
Dr.
Giertych : A day after I distributed this
booklet in the European Parliament there was
a debate about the presence of homophobia in
Europe, particularly in Poland. My booklet was
used by one speaker as evidence of this homophobia.
It contains a defense of what my son, the Polish
minister of education, said in Heidelberg, at
a meeting of the EU education ministers. He
said that promotion of homosexuality in schools
should be forbidden and was severely criticized
for this.
I
expanded on this theme in the European Values
booklet. The media picked this up and proclaimed
me a homophobe. This was duly reported in all
Polish media.
I
might add, that in this debate Jan Kulakowski,
a Polish MEP, speaking in the name of the liberals,
said almost exactly the same: 'We wish to underline
that there exists a serious difference between
lack of discrimination in this area and the
promotion of homosexuality. Tolerance - yes;
nondiscrimination - yes; promotion - no; because
promotion in this area is not a measure of respect
for human rights.'
In
spite of the fact that he said almost exactly
the same as I and my son did, nobody described
him as a homophobe. Liberals are free to say
what they wish, traditionalists art not.
Q..
Whom do you identify as the leading political
and intellectual leaders responsible for the
increasing secularist antireligious posture
of the European Union?
Dr.
Giertych : . The whole EU project was from
the very start aimed at creating a secular federal
state. It is often underlined that the originators,
Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman, Alcide de Gasperi,
were all Christian Democrats. However, the driving
force behind the creation of the Union were
people like Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, Joseph
Rettinger, Jean Monnet, and others acting from
behind the scenes.
These
were internationalists, following Masonic inspiration.
Currently it is the French who are most insistent
on eliminating any reference to Christianity
in the workings of the Union, and the links
to Masonry in this context are well known. President
Chirac met in theElysée Palace on the
June 23, 2003 with the leadership of nine French
Masonic rites (Grande Orient de France, Féderation
Francaise du Droit Humane, Grande Loge de France,
Grand Loge Féminine de France, Grande
Loge Traditionelle et Symbolique Opéra,
Loge feminine de Memphis-Mistraím, Loge
'Nationale Francaise, Grande Grande Loge Mixte
Universelle. Grande Loge Mixte de France) and
promised them to keep the separation of Church
and state also in the European Union.
Thus
there is no chance of placing a mention of Christian
roots in the preamble to the proposed European
Constitution.
Q.
How forcefully have the bishops of the Catholic
Church in Western Europe reacted to the anti-Christian
positions being blatantly taken by spokesmen
and legislators of the European Union?
Dr.
Giertych : Not at all. There is such a thing
as COMECE (Commission of the Bishops' Conferences
of the European Community) with a permanent
secretariat in Brussels, but we never hear from
them. Benedict XVI met them on March 24, 2007,
and asked them to 'be actively present in the
public debate on a European level,' but so far
with no effect.
We
get more advice from the nuncio to the European
Union and his coworkers, who monitor what is
happening in the European Parliament and send
out warning signals when- ever something important
from the point of view of the Church is up for
voting.
Q..
There is an obvious connection between the increased
secularization of European nations with its
accompanying relativism and the spread of doctrinal
dissent in the Catholic Church during the postconciliar
period. Do you see the Church's European bishops
taking firm action against dissenters whose
activities, in effect. have impeded efforts
of faithful laity to implement Catholic Social
Doctrine?
Dr.
Giertych : There are obviously many dissenters,
both among the laity and the clergy. In Poland
we do not hear very much about the actions taken
against the clerical dissenters, but quite often
we find that such dissenters eventually abandon
the priesthood. I assume this is a reaction
to reprimands they were receiving clandestinely.
The laity is reprimanded from the pulpit, not
individually, but as those who took up a position
or voted in a manner un acceptable to the Church.
In
other countries, one hears occasionally about
some action taken against wayward theologians
by the Vatican (e.g., Hans Küng is prevented
from teaching in the name of the Church), but
very seldom by the diocesan bishops. There are
also quite vociferous laity organizations that
dissent from Church teaching (e.g., We Are Church),
but reprimands from the bishops are obviously
insufficient.
Q.
As one who is well-informed concerning your
native Poland. how do you assess the political
and cultural impact of the United States on
your nation?
Dr.
Giertych : We consider the United States
a friendly country and we would like the American
to consider us as friends. We have experienced
bullying from Russia and Germany and even from
France (President Chirac told us once to keep
quiet). We are sensitive to being told what
to do by stronger partners. We cherish freedom,
sovereignty, independence. freedom of speech,
etc., perhaps because we have experienced foreign
dictates so often in the past. Thus we appreciate
the tact with which the U.S. is exerting its
influence. That's on the official level.
The
cultural impact is more destructive. Hollywood
is omnipresent. Its mores are having a tremendously
negative influence on the young generation.
The same goes for Western music, trendy immodest
dress fashions, various sects, New Age, and
other ills that somehow were kept at bay before
1989, but are now accepted as part of the West
we longed for during Communist times. These
ills are not only of U.S. origin, but largely
so.
Q.
Will the Polish people remain faithful to the
vision and hopes of Pope John Paul II for the
future role of Poland in European affairs?
Dr.
Giertych : John Paul II advised us to enter
the European Union, but he did not say we shall
benefit for this. He told us that we have a
mission, a mission to re-Christianize Europe.
I feared that Western Europe would de-Christianize
us. However, it appears that JP was right. By
entering the EU it has become possible to move
to Western countries in search for better-paid
work.
Many
young people do this. This is a tremendous biological
loss for us. but it does help in the activation
of parish life in Europe. Poles are traditionally
churchgoers. Especially when abroad the need
to go to church intensifies, particularly since
it is also an occasion to meet other Poles and
to exchange with them experiences and information
about job possibilities. Suddenly lying parishes
are having a multiude of church attendees.
This
has created a lack of priests, and particularly
of confessors - Poles still use the confessional
on a regular basis. Since in Poland the lumber
of priestly vocations is still high, many of
them are sent by bishops to Western European
parishes to help service Poles needing them.
The parishes experience a revival.
It
has been said that Poland remained more traditionally
Catholic because the Pope was Polish. It was
expected that with a German Pope the attachment
to the Church would decline. However, nothing
of the kind happened. We had a visit of Benedict
XVI and he was received with great love and
attachment. The change of pontificate had no
effect on the religious practices of the Poles.
Pilgrimages to Rome continue as before. Foot
pilgrimages to Czestochowa and other shrines
continue as before, church attendance has not
declined, the confessionals are permanently
in use.
Whether
we are making a political Christian impact on
the European Union is another story. If so this
is hardly noticeable. The current government
is more outspokenly traditional in its outlook,
but any voices in defense of Christian values
are met with total rejection, ridicule, and
abuse. But perhaps in the long term this will
have some positive influence.
Q.
How much influence do former Communists wield
on the present Polish government?
Dr.
Giertych : . We were the first to enter
on the road to political transformation. As
a result the roundtable agreements of 1989 were
nothing more than an agreement between Communists
and former Communists (dissidents from the party
at some earlier stage, mostly in 1968). This
agreement ensured immunity for the nomenclature.
They became businessmen and enriched themselves
on the privatization of what was formerly state
property. The consecutive governments were either
Communist (Oleksy, Cimoszewicz, Miller, Belka)
or post-Communist with the prime ministers (Mazowiecki,
Bielecki, Suchocka, Buzek), generally serving
as fronts for the rule of the former Communists
(Geremek, Balcerowicz, KuroD). Truly right wing
was the short-lived Olszewski government, and
the current one which genuinely tries to tackle
corruption, de-Communization, the legacy of
the Secret Services, etc.
Gradually
the role of the Communists or former Communists
is declining, but they are still very strong
where it matters - in the banks, in the Secret
Services, in the army. in business, in the diplomatic
service, etc. But gradual replacements are moving
in the right direction, so there is hope for
the future.
Q.
Poland as a 'Catholic nation' has been regarded
by some in the West as responsible for an anti-Semitism
that poisoned relations between peoples and
helped lead to World War II and the Holocaust.
What are your thoughts on the accusation of
Poland's historical involvement in anti-Semitism?
Dr.
Giertych : We keep on hearing these accusations,
yet they have no substance whatsoever. Poland
was for centuries considered a paradise for
the Jews. We have always accepted Jewish refugees
persecuted in other countries. There was never
any persecution ofJews in Poland conducted by
the Poles. 'Pogrom' is a Russian word, and it
was practiced by Russians on Polish territory
occupied by them in the 19th century.
The
Holocaust is the responsibility of the Germans.
During the interwar years (1918-1939), we accepted
600,000 Jewish refugees from Germany and Russia
and gave them Polish citizenship. Has any country
done more? After occupying Poland, the Germans
first decided to carve out a homeland for the
Jews out of a part of Poland (Lublinland with
the capital in Nisko) and started transporting
Jews from all over Europe to Poland, to 'cleanse'
Europe of the Jews. In late 1941 they changed
their mind and decided on the 'final solution,-
that is to exterminate them.
Now
Jews remember Poland as the land of the Holocaust,
and German media are very happy to share responsibility
for it with the Poles. Whence such offensive
terms as 'Polish concentration camps' or even
the term used by yourself, 'Poland's historical
involvement in. anti-Semitism.'
Yes,
there have been frictions, as there always are,
where civilizationally different communities
live side by side. Sometimes community strife
resulted, but it was never very serious nor
wide reaching. Especially after Russia occupied
eastern Poland in 1939 and based its rule on
the help of local Communists, mostly Jews, there
have been more violent incidents. They were
part of the resistance to foreign occupation
But
it is important to stress that any collaboration
with the occupying German and Russian forces
was punished by death by the Polish underground.
Thus any Poles caught helping Germans in locating
Jews or even demanding contributions for remaining
silent about the knowledge concerning hiding
Jews, were penalized by death during the war
(by the Home Army) and very severely [punished],
though not always by death, in postwar courts.
All
Holocaust survivors from Poland owe their lives
to the help of numerous Poles who helped hide
them, even though the penalty meted out by the
occupying Germans for any help given to the
Jews was outright execution of the whole family.
Many families have experienced this. Poland
was the only occupied country where the Germans
used such draconian methods to discourage helping
the Jews.
It
would be false to claim there was never any
anti-Semitism in Poland, but there was most
certainly much less of it in Poland than in
other European countries. That is why there
were so many Jews living in Poland.
Q.
Does the increasing power of the European Union
mark the beginning of the end of the national
sovereignty of European states?
Dr.
Giertych : Indeed, yes. The much-proclaimed
principle of subsidiarity is understood as promotion
of transferring powers from states to regions,
but at the same time the European Commission
is gradually taking over responsibilities in
fields traditionally placed in governments of
individual states. So the trend is to deprive
states of powers, either down to regions or
up to the Commission. What is aimed at is a
Federal Republic of Europe on the model of the
Federal Republic of Germany, or the USA, with
a strong central government and small regions
(Lands) dealing with local affairs.
But
I have faith in the traditional strength of
European nations. Ours is a continent of independent
states, owned by their respective nations. A
melting pot on the American model will not work.
Any serious crisis will demonstrate that national
