The Presidium of the Polish Bishops' Conference on the Istanbul Convention: Marriage is a permanent union between a woman and a man

The Episcopate’s Presidium points out that the Istanbul Convention mentions that “one of the causes of violence against women and domestic violence is religion and tradition” (Art. 12, par. 5). Accordingly, the Convention urges the host states to promote “changing the social and cultural patterns of behavior of women and men”. The Bishops, however, recall that marriage is “a permanent union between a woman and a man” and emphasize that their “complementary roles of motherhood and fatherhood” are “not cultural stereotypes, but the foundation of human life and society, in accordance with the will of the Creator himself.”

The Bishops encourage all to support changes in criminal law aimed at the greater protection and security of family life. They recall that “the main sources of crises in family life, which sometimes become pathological and lead to violence, are: alcoholism, drug addiction, and other addictions, as well as mass culture pornography and the related objectification of women and dehumanization of sex life.”

We are publishing below the full text of the statement:

STATEMENT

PRESIDIUM OF THE POLISH BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE ON THE ISTANBUL

CONVENTION

In the face of the current debate in our country over the maintenance or termination of “The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence” adopted in Istanbul on 11 May 2011 and commonly known as the “Istanbul Convention,” we would like to remind you that, on this issue, a consensus has already been adopted by the Assembly of Central European Bishops, calling for the rejection of the document.

At the same time, we welcome the emergence of a social legislative initiative to terminate the Istanbul Convention and replace it with the International Convention on the Rights of the Family, and we encourage support for this action.

The Istanbul Convention quite rightly seeks to combat discrimination based on sex, that is, biological differences between a woman and a man. However, alongside that, the Convention introduces elements of gender ideology, referring to the need to combat various types of discrimination related to gender. The concept of gender that appears many times in this document—translated into Polish as “socio-cultural gender”—means, according to the Convention, “the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men” (cf. Istanbul Convention, Art. 3, c).

Moreover, the Istanbul Convention also states that one of the causes of violence against women and domestic violence is religion and tradition (cf. ibid., Art. 12, 5). Therefore, the Convention calls on the States that accept it to “take the necessary measures to promote changes in the social and cultural patterns of behavior of women and men with a view to eradicating prejudices, customs, traditions and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority of women or on stereotyped roles for women and men” (cf. Art. 12, 1), and to introduce “teaching material on issues such as equality between women and men, non‐stereotyped gender roles […] in formal curricula and at all levels of education” (cf. ibid., Art. 14, 1).

Meanwhile, marriage, that is a permanent relationship between a woman and a man, and their complementary roles of motherhood and fatherhood, which are also Polish constitutional values, are not cultural stereotypes but the foundation of human life and society, in accordance with the will of the Creator himself (cf. Gen 1, 27-28).

We also support, and we encourage you to support, any changes in Polish criminal law aimed at the greater protection and security of family life. We would like to remind you that the main sources of crises in family life, which sometimes become pathological and lead to violence, are: alcoholism, drug addiction, and other addictions, as well as pornography of mass culture and the related objectification of women and dehumanization of sex life.

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki

Metropolitan Archbishop of Poznań

Chairman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference

Vice-President of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE)

Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski

Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow

Deputy Chairman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference

Bishop Artur G. Miziński

Secretary-General of the Polish Bishops’ Conference

Warsaw, 17 September 2020

tłum. z języka polskiego Biuro ds. Komunikacji Zagranicznej