The Charity Commission of the Polish Bishops' Conference held its meeting

We publish a communiqué from the meeting:

Communiqué
of the Charities Commission 
of the Polish Bishops' Conference

On January 19, at the headquarters of Caritas Polska in Warsaw, the Charities Commission of the Polish Bishops' Conference met along with the invited guests. The aim of the meeting was to exchange information on current challenges in charitable work conducted by Caritas Polska, diocesan Caritas and religious congregations, the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border and the situation of migrants and refugees.

The first part of the meeting concerned the numerous contemporary challenges in the work of charity, which has been an integral part of the Church's activity since apostolic times. The President of the Commission, Bishop Wieslaw Szlachetka, drew attention to the mission of providing mercy by the Church, which is timeless in accordance with Christ's statement, "the poor among you you shall always have" (J 12,8).

Advocate Dr Michał Poniatowski presented the characteristics of the sources of canon law on the Church's ministry of mercy, i.e. Caritas. First they were presented from a historical aspect while taking into account the hierarchical aspect. Then this issue was presented in the contemporary aspect and in relation to the secular law.

The perspective of contemporary charitable activities carried out by religious congregations was presented by Father Janusz Sok CSsR, PhD, president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Male Religious Congregations. He pointed out that throughout the centuries religious orders were established as a response to existing material, spiritual or intellectual poverty. Today religious orders carry out impressive and extensive charitable and caring activities, but a sign of the times is the decrease in the number of vocations, which can be caused, among other things, by the lack of missionary zeal.

Marcin Iżycki, PhD, Director of Caritas Polska, pointed out in his speech that the mission of Caritas Polska is not only to help the poor, the sick, the abandoned and the excluded, i.e. to practice individual evangelical mercy, but also social pastoral work. This means both the need to provide charity and to influence, through advocacy, the structural changes in Polish society and in the communities abroad, so that they do not generate poverty, do not violate the principles of social coexistence and enable integral human development.

The other members and consultants of the Commission in their discussion outlined the most important challenges of contemporary charitable work, touching upon such topics as effectiveness and adequacy in the realization of particular tasks and the necessity of continuing social and charitable activities, including spiritual and therapeutic aspects of work, with particular emphasis on the area of seniors and children's aid.

The invited members of the Board of Caritas Polska presented the main directions of the charitable activities in the most important areas of activity in the country and abroad, with special emphasis on the development of volunteering and integral ecology.

The Charity Commission together with the invited guests also discussed the current situation of migrants and refugees, including the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.

In her introduction to the topic of assistance to migrants, Prof. Małgorzata Duda stressed the need to build and implement social integration tools in institutions: access to information and services (including ensuring their cultural appropriateness when necessary), feedback communication, cooperation in constructing and implementing integration plans, creating an atmosphere of respect for cultural diversity.

The Primate of Poland, Archbishop Wojciech Polak, indicated that the meeting comes at an important time - the day before, the Holy See announced Pope Francis' support for Caritas Poland's work in the crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. He stressed that it is important to constantly seek meaningful and adequate solutions to take care of people misled and placed on the border as a result of actions planned by regimes. He stressed that this is a humanitarian crisis.

Bishop Wieslaw Szlachetka reminded how important it is to provide prudent and rational help to refugees and migrants in the spirit of the Gospel. The position of the Church is very clear here and has been repeatedly recalled, among others, in appeals addressed to the faithful.

The migration crisis is undoubtedly one of the most visible signs of the times, and thus a social and pastoral challenge at the same time. The response of Caritas Poland is to work in various ways with the local diocesan Caritas, the parish Caritas teams, local communities, state and local government services and other institutions and organizations which are ready to help the arriving migrants - said Fr Marcin Iżycki.

In addition, Malgorzata Jarosz-Jarszewska and Br. Cordian Szwarc, Vice Director of Caritas Poland, spoke about the work done so far for migrants and refugees and about the response to the border crisis.

Bishop Krzysztof Zadarko, President of the Polish Bishops' Conference Council for Migration, outlined further possible scenarios for supporting refugees and migrants. In response to Pope Francis' appeal in December 2021 for countries and churches in Europe to welcome refugees, he presented the prospect of Caritas Poland taking in about 10 families from refugee camps in Cyprus or Greece. As Bishop Szlachetka added, it is about accepting families who are in a dramatic life situation and who express a clear desire to come and stay permanently in Poland.

The part of the meeting dealing with the issue of migrants was also attended by Bartosz Grodecki, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, Jarosław Szajner, Head of the Office for Foreigners, and Brigadier General Andrzej Jakubaszek, Commander of the Podlaskie Branch of the Border Guard. They presented the current complex perspective of the migration crisis, including actions taken by state services and challenges in the integration process of migrants and refugees. With regard to the presented proposal to host refugee families by Caritas Poland, those present indicated space for further discussions with relevant representatives of the government administration.

The topics discussed during the meeting of the Charity Commission will be continued at the next meetings.

Translation: Sr. Amata J. Nowaszewska / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference