Bishops after the meeting of the Council of Diocesan Bishops on Religious Education, the Commission of Independent Experts and the restructuring of the Polish Bishops’ Conference's media entities

https://episkopat.pl/doc/233857.Biskupi-po-obradach-Rady-Biskupow-Diecezjalnych-o-lekcjach

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The procedure that enables the establishment of the Commission

During a meeting with journalists, Bishop Sławomir Oder, Ordinary of Gliwice and Chairman of the Team for the Preparation of Documents on the Functioning of the Commission of Independent Experts to Investigate the Sexual Abuse of Minors by Some Clergy, presented the current status of work on the establishment of the Commission. ‘Today, after less than two months, I was able to present to the diocesan bishops draft documents that were developed in fulfilment of the mandate entrusted to me in June in Katowice,’ he explained. He admitted that at that time there was a great deal of uncertainty, emotion, and false information and interpretations of what was the decision of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, ‘including the burial of this Commission.’

Bishop Oder pointed out that his ‘team was not directly involved in the establishment of the Commission, but in developing, based on the documents of the Primate's team, a procedure that would enable the establishment of this Commission in accordance with canon law and civil law.’ ‘We established a certain procedure that seems to be necessary for everything to be lege artis,’ he explained.

The hierarch pointed out that the first step will be the signing of an agreement between the Polish Bishops’ Conference and the Conference of Major Superiors of Female Religious Congregations and the Conference of Major Superiors of Male Religious Orders concerning the very initiative to establish the Commission. ‘The reference point for this agreement will be the statute, which was developed on the basis of a previously prepared statute, but significantly expanded,’ he noted.

The hierarch explained that ‘canon law does not allow any resolution of the Polish Bishops’ Conference to be imposed on bishops.’ ‘Bishops are free to join this initiative, and therefore the formal launch of the Commission will involve the signing of bilateral agreements,’ he noted.

Bishop Oder indicated that the documents he had prepared would now be forwarded to the Legal Commission, where they would be evaluated. ‘If this evaluation is positive, we will be able to set in motion a specific procedure that will allow such a Commission to be formally established within the next few months,’ he admitted.

Bishop Oder emphasised that the starting point and core of the documents prepared by his team was the document prepared by Archbishop Wojciech Polak's team. ‘We are dealing with a process that was initiated by the Primate,’ he explained.

We strongly defend Religious Education

Bishop Wojciech Osial, chairman of the Commission of the Catholic Education of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, referred to changes in the organisation of Religious Education in schools. He pointed out that ‘Religious Education has great potential and can be very helpful in education.’ He pointed out that their content helps in the development of students' personalities. He noted that many students go through crises, including psychological ones, and religion classes are also meant to help.

Referring to the Bishops' Letter for Education Week, which will be published before the start of the Week, Bishop Osial emphasised: ‘We strongly defend religion classes and proclaim that the changes made by the Ministry of National Education are unfair and unlawful. The principle of agreement, as set out in the Education System Act, has been violated, and we strongly emphasise this in the Letter.’

Bishop Osial also admitted that catechetical departments in individual dioceses are trying to help catechists who lose their jobs.

Referring to the new subject of ‘Health Education,’ the bishop recalled the letter from the Presidium of the Polish Bishops’ Conference dated 14 May this year, which contained a request to parents ‘to carefully consider their children's participation in Health Education.’

Bishop Osial emphasised that the subject of ‘Health Education’ contains a lot of positive content, ‘but the Catholic Church also sees content that is incompatible with its teachings on morality and sexuality, and therefore there is an appeal for parents to carefully consider sending their children to these lessons’. He added that there is no word of compulsion, but there is an appeal. ‘Because the vast majority of parents are believers,’ he noted.

Greater cooperation between the Polish Bishops’ Conference media entities is needed

In turn, the spokesman for the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Fr. Leszek Gęsiak SJ, referred to the reform of Polish Episcopate’s media entities. ‘One of the main reasons why the media established by the Polish Bishops’ Conference must be restructured is their difficult financial situation. We know that maintaining the media is costly, and this also applies to the media established by the Polish Bishops’ Conference,’ he emphasised. He added that greater cooperation between these three entities is needed to optimise their work.

The spokesman of the Polish Episcopate pointed out that each of these media entities has different functions and must perform the work entrusted to it, but he noted that certain functions can be performed jointly.

Fr. Gęsiak explained that the basis for such cooperation would probably be an agreement. ‘No specific decisions have been made yet, except that such a restructuring is to be carried out,’ he added.

Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference