Politics
Tuesday May 30, 2006
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
Poland Brings Strongly Christian Influence to European Politics
By Gudrun Schultz
WARSAW, Poland, May 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) -Poland is embracing its Christian identity with a new enthusiasm, the Seattle Times reported yesterday.
According to recent census data, 96% of the population say they are Roman Catholic, and 57% say they attend Mass every Sunday. The churches are filled to capacity and there is no shortage of priests.
During his pontificate, John Paul II expressed hope that Poland would be the source of a "new evangelization" of Western Europe. In recent years, a political movement in the country has begun efforts to influence the restoration of Christian values to the EU.
"What's new in Poland is that political parties want to express their Catholicism," Pawel Spiewak, a Polish sociologist, told the Times. "A few years ago, a typical Pole was Catholic in his private life. Now he's expressing it openly and wants to express it as public policy. It's atypical for Europe."
Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former communist, was president of Poland in 2003 when the country first began efforts to introduce some mention of Christianity into the EU's constitution. He told a British newspaper, "There is no excuse for making references to ancient Greece and Rome, and to the Enlightenment, without making reference to the Christian values which are so important to the development of Europe."
In 2005, the Polish delegation to the European Parliament set up a pro-life display in the parliamentary headquarters in Strasbourg, France.
"We follow the teachings of the church and the advice of the bishops," said Piotr Slusarczyk, a spokesman for the League of Polish Families, a Catholic party that brought in the display. The pro-family organization also opposes euthanasia and homosexual activity.
"Our goal is to defend Catholic values and to defend Poland against Western tendencies that are being promoted by a vocal EU lobby," Slusarczyk told the Times.
Polish president Lech Kaczynski is opposed to abortion and gay marriage, and has resisted pressure by the EU to change the country's anti-abortion laws and support homosexual activity.
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Australian Health Minister Fires Men’s Health Ambassador for Documenting Risks of Homosexuality
- IKEA’s Polish Catalogue Introduces “Ian and Steve” as a Model of the New Family
- Abortion Increases Women's Mental Health Problems: New Study
- Conservative Attorney General Seeks to Quash Morgentaler Order of Canada Challenge
- Purchase of Christmas Music CD By Pro-Life Priest is Great Way to Support LifeSiteNews
- EU Rejects Patent that “Necessarily Involves the Use and Destruction of Human Embryos”
- South Korean Court Orders Removal of Life Support from Comatose Woman
- The Power of a Bold Bishop
- God is Pro-Choice Says Nun
- Danish Study Shows almost 50% More Down's Children Eugenically Aborted with New Screening Options
- Letters to the Editor for Monday, December 1, 2008
- LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Most Read this Week
- Behind the Scenes of Volition: Coincidences and Startling Circumstances
- Ad Showing Woman Seducing Santa Promotes Free Morning-After Pills and Condoms for Christmas
- Belgian Couple Sells Baby on EBay
- Leading Canadian Pro-Life MP Relates Shocking 20 Year Lack of Support From Catholic Clergy
- Naming the Anti-Life Appointments in the Obama Administration
- Cardinal on Biblical Condemnation of Homosexuality: We're Not Allowed the Cowardice of "Politically Correct" Silence
- A Painful, Disease-Ridden Death Isn’t So Bad if You’re Just a White, Heterosexual Male
- Film Review: Volition
- Just In Time for Christmas - Gift Cards for Abortions from Planned Parenthood
- Abortion Now Number One Cause of Death in Spain
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.