The President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference appeals for national reconciliation
The President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki has appealed for national reconciliation. In a special Word, issued in connection with recent events in our country, he stressed that common concern for the fate of the Homeland should be more important than anything that divides us.
I appeal to all those who hold dear the fate of the Homeland, with a sense of responsibility before God and their own conscience, to open their hearts and minds to reconciliation – wrote Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki. In the Word published today, appealed “to seek the possibility of resolving the conflicts plaguing our political life at the negotiating table, without resorting to the use of force; and to restore true respect for the Constitution and the laws based on it”. “Reason means more than force” – Plus ratio quam vis – proclaims the motto of our oldest University” – he recalled.
The President of the Polish Episcopate underlined that he looks at the recent events in and around our Homeland with great concern. “We are living today in very difficult circumstances. The war in the East and, in the West, the attempt of the European Union to become a single state make national reconciliation particularly important. We can only meet these challenges if our common concern for the fate of our Homeland becomes more important to us than anything that divides us” – he wrote.
Archbishop Gądecki called for a return to the principle of a democratic state of law enshrined in the Polish Constitution. “Since people have a tendency to abuse power, in a democratic state under the rule of law, the separation of powers and their balancing is necessary. The idea is that one political party or coalition should not exercise full power in the state – as happens in a totalitarian regime – but that certain institutions of power should be in the custody of opposition forces or be independent of any political parties at all” – he stated. “This means that those in power are not above the law, but subject to the law” – he added, referring to the principle of the “rule of law”.
The President of the Polish Episcopate also recalled the words of St. John Paul II in 1987 that “struggle cannot be stronger than solidarity”. “Thanks to solidarity understood in this way, we were able to change the course of European history. But in our history we also have the painful page of the loss of independence. We must not repeat this mistake” – appealed Archbishop Gądecki.
Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
We publish the whole text of the Word:
The Word of Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki
President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
in view of the events in our Homeland
23 December 2023
It is with great concern that I look at the recent events in and around our Homeland. We are living today in very difficult circumstances. The war in the East and, in the West, the attempt of the European Union to become a single state make national reconciliation particularly important. We can only meet these challenges if our common concern for the fate of our Homeland becomes more important to us than anything that divides us.
In particular, this requires a return to the principle of a democratic state of law enshrined in the Polish Constitution (art. 2). “Governments which respect the rule of law”, said St. John Paul II to representatives of the European Commission and the Court of Human Rights, “acknowledge, in effect, a limit to their powers and sphere of interests” (08.10.1988). Since people have a tendency to abuse power, in a democratic state under the rule of law, the separation of powers and their balancing is necessary. The idea is that one political party or coalition should not exercise full power in the state – as happens in a totalitarian regime – but that certain institutions of power should be in the custody of opposition forces or be independent of any political parties at all. On the formal side, this means that those in power are not above the law, but subject to the law. “This is the principle of the ‘rule of law’, in which the law is sovereign, and not the arbitrary will of individuals” (CA 44).
I appeal to all those who hold dear the fate of the Homeland, with a sense of responsibility before God and their own conscience, to open their hearts and minds to reconciliation; to seek the possibility of resolving the conflicts plaguing our political life at the negotiating table, without resorting to the use of force; and to restore true respect for the Constitution and the laws based on it. “Reason means more than force” – Plus ratio quam vis – proclaims the motto of our oldest University.
As a nation, we have a beautiful history of over a thousand years, of which the legacy of “Solidarność” is an important page. “Solidarity – it means: one and the other (...). So never: one against the other. (...) Struggle cannot be stronger than solidarity”, said St. John Paul II in Gdansk (12.06.1987). Thanks to solidarity understood in this way, we were able to change the course of European history. But in our history we also have the painful page of the loss of independence. We must not repeat this mistake.
Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki
Metropolitan of Poznan
President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
