Politics and Poland's Church

The Polish elections showed that Communists still appeal. What role will the Catholic Church play in the new political arena, asks Edward Horton.
1ST SUNDAY'S GENERAL ELEC noN victory of the Democ
ratic Left Alliance demonstrates the widespread disillusionment with the political situation in Poland. In recent years, the Polish Catholic Church has been seen as the representative of the Polish people in their fight for democracy, but in the runup to this week's election, the Church was criticised for being too political.
The debate today centres on what role the Church should play in a future Poland. According to theologian Fr Joseph Tishner, the Polish Catholic Church is concerned with the increase in popularity of the former Communists as evidenced in the electoral victory scored by two left-wing parties this week the Democratic Left Alliance, which won 18 per cent of the vote; the Polish peasant Party, which won 14 per cent.
One reason for the sudden re-emergence of Communist parties, according to Fr Tishner, is that economic reforms have led to a sharp increase in unemployment.
Fr Tishner claimed: "The ex-Communists in power may well stop the economic reforms that are so necessary for this country."
Fr Tishner believes that the "essential problem is what place in the new democracy the Church will take. The Church accepts democracy as the proper system for Poland."
The Church's emphasis on Christian values led to controversy over its involvement in three key issues: the abortion debate, religious education in state schools, and the broadcasting law which stipulated there must be a place for Christianity in the media.
But Fr Tishner maintained that "One can argue whether the way the Church acted was politically expedient, but one cannot deny that the Church was acting in the global interest," he said.
Jaroslaw Govin, the editor of the Catholic monthly Znak, said the opinion polls showed the majority of society supports the law that forbids abortion in most cases.
But he added that the Church was guilty of unduly influencing parliament. "The bishops' mistake was they tried to impose on parliament a very rigorous law which would forbid abortion in all cases," he said.
Mr Govin maintained that religious education in state schools has led to a wave of anti-clericalism among the young. "When I spoke to my nephew, who is 17, his views were similar to my attitude to socialist education during the 1970s. They (the young) treat religious education as a form of propaganda."
Since the fall of Communism, the Church has acted as a lobby for political parties. In the run-up to the general elections in 1991, the episcopate asked the Poles to vote for the Christian Democratic parties. Mr Govin argued that the Church should "withdraw from direct political activity and play the role of an arbiter."
But according to Adam Szostkiewicz, a Polish journalist, the complexity of the Polish situation will make it impossible for the Church to act as an arbiter.
"The dialogue in Polish politics is very difficult. The bishops' position is also difficult because they are not trusted by the political elite," he said.
For over 40 years the Church was involved in the political struggle against the Communists.
Fr Tishner said that because "the Church had a great impact on the collapse of Communism, one can't tell the Church to refrain from politics."
Mr Szostkiewicz claims the Church faces greater challenges in a democracy than under Communism: "The
bishops are right when they say Communism was not as great an enemy as the ideology of a western liberal pluralist society.
"The Church seems to be a prisoner of the situation that developed under Communism. The tactics used by the Church were successful so now they say why don't we try and pin-point the enemy is liberal ideology."
The success of the excommunists is a sign of the failure of the Church, who while distancing themselves from the election campaign, urged the Poles to vote in accordance with their Christian conscience.
The Church was well placed to oppose the former authoritarian regime; now it must learn to live with the freedoms it has long sought in the Polish body politic.