1040 years of Christianity in Poland

Road to Europe

Two dates are significant for the origins of Christianity on Polish soil: the year 966, when Prince Mieszko I accepted baptism, and the establishment of the first Episcopal metropolis in 1000, a decision of the Congress of Gniezno. The establishment of an archbishop’s see in Gniezno is tied with the figure of St. Adalbert (ca. 956-997), along with St. Stanislaus the Bishop the main patron saint of Poland. Adalbert, bishop of Prague, later a monk in Rome, laid down his life as the apostle of the Prussians, assassinated east of Gdańsk (currently the Diocese of Elbląg). The pilgrimage of Emperor Otto III to his tomb in Gniezno in 1000 was not only an act of international recognition of Poland, but also led to the foundation of the first ecclesial metropolis. It comprised the bishoprics of Kołobrzeg, Poznań, Wrocław, and Cracow. The current Metropolitan of Gniezno, Archbishop Henryk Muszyński, is actively engaged in making St. Adalbert proclaimed a patron saint of reunifying Europe.

The establishment of Christianity as a religion professed not only by the elites of the state became a fact in the 12th century, which saw the construction of numerous Romanesque churches and the famous Gniezno Door, one of the major artefacts of sacred art in Poland. The 13th century, in turn, abounded in numerous foundations of religious orders, which was conducive to the development of Catholic schools. The foundation of the Academy of Cracow in 1364 in the then nation’s capital was the crowning achievement of this process.

Union with Lithuania

Another event that testifies to the power of the culture and religion of the young Polish state was the union with Lithuania (1385), which led not only to the Christianisation of the country, but also to the inclusion of sizeable parts of Russia, remaining under the influence of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Ever since, the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were an arena of an historic, peaceful encounter of Catholicism with Eastern Orthodoxy, which for many centuries to come would determine the countenance of Polish culture and the place of our state as the bridge connecting the East and the West.

The defeat of the Teutonic Knights in 1410 and the fall of the Tartar state paved the way for the establishment of one of the greatest political powers of the then Europe: the state of the Jagiellonian dynasty, extending for a time from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

The Union with Lithuania, sealed finally in 1569 (the Union of Lublin), called into life one multi-national state: the Commonwealth of Two Nations, with one elective king, a joint Parliament and a common foreign policy. Poland and Lithuania retained their autonomous central offices, separate treasuries and armies, as well as gentry offices and courts based on their own independent statutes. The Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania, in existence until the close of the 18th century, was a European exemplary model of peaceful coexistence of nations, religions, and cultures, which contributed to a dynamic growth of the entire community.

Marian Worship in Poland

Marian worship, a characteristic trait of Polish Christianity, developed in early Middle Ages. One theory has it that Marian worship in these territories is older than Polish statehood. There are records about a mission from Byzantium, which ca. 900 AD was active in the state of the Vistulan tribe. This very mission was responsible for launching here the cult of the Dormition of Our Lady.

The icon of St. Mary and Child, brought in 1382 to Jasna Góra, developed in time into the favourite destination of pilgrimages. Images of Our Lady, regarded as miraculous, spread all over the Polish Republic, worshipped by members of both the Latin and the Uniate Churches. The Jasna Góra image, following a victorious defence against the Swedish army in 1655 and the famous vows of the then Polish King Jan Kazimierz in Lviv, gradually acquired the status of a symbol, also in the national and political sense. Marian worship was spread first of all by religious orders, Jesuits included, who starting from the 17th c. contributed immensely to the formation of Polish elites. Another upsurge in Marian piety was noted on Polish soil at the time of the partitions of Poland, with a rapid increase in pilgrimages to such shrines as Jasna Góra, the Ostra Brama in Vilnius, and many others (at present there are over 500 Marian shrines in Poland).

Tolerance of creed

In the 15th century the prominent elites of the Polish Church began to play an ever greater role in the universal Church, which was witnessed, among others, by a significant support granted by Poles to the concilliar movement (giving priority to the council over the pope) at the councils in Constance and Basel.

Tolerance of creed and an extremely rare use of violence in interreligious disputes was a noteworthy trait of Christianity within the Republic of Poland until the time of the partitions. At the aforementioned Council in Constance (1414-18), Paweł Włodkowic, a professor of the Jagiellonian University, spoke in defence of human rights, including the rights of pagans and Muslims, against forced conversion into Christianity.

During the Reformation Poland granted privileges to people of different denominations, safeguarding their freedom of conscience and creed, which was unique for the period. In 1573 a Warsaw Confederation was founded, which guaranteed the freedom of conscience and peace to all denominations. In 1645, on the initiative of King Władysław IV, a Colloquium Charitativum was held in Toruń, a meeting of Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists, with a view to restoring the unity and concord among these denominations. While it did not bring about the desired results, it was highly acclaimed throughout Europe and earned much international respect for the Polish monarch.

It was thanks to this peaceful and tolerant atmosphere that the Poland of the Reformation period owes a spectacular victory of the reform of Catholicism, launched by the Council of Trent. The Catholic renewal took ground here also thanks to the exceptional activity of the Jesuits, whose system of education was geared to the widest possible circles of Polish landed gentry. By the close of the 19th c. at least several thousand students had graduated from schools run by the Society of Jesus, which helped establish spiritual and lay intellectual elites of the country.

One of the most prominent features of the victory of the Catholic side was the increased voluntary return of Protestant gentry to the old Church in the latter half of the 16th c.

Union with the Eastern Church

An analogous process takes place in the Eastern territories of the Republic of Poland, where a sizeable part of Russian boyars gradually converted to Catholicism. This had a significant impact on strengthening the relations with Rome among the Orthodox clergy and Episcopate. In 1596, in the Lithuanian town of Brest, some Orthodox entered into a union with Rome, and in 1691 a similar step was taken by the Polish Armenians. In both cases the Eastern Christians recognised the authority of the pope but at the same time retained their own rites, jurisdiction, liturgical language, and calendar.

Furthermore, the work of the promotion of Catholicism was immensely helped by the missions of religious orders active in these lands. Their efficacy was greatly hampered by mounting conflicts with Cossacks, instigated by a short-sighted policy of Polish magnates, which made this part of society inclined towards Eastern Orthodoxy. The surging conflicts led also to excess violence, claiming its toll among numerous Polish missionaries, the most renowned of whom was Andrzej Bobola SI, a Jesuit martyred in 1657 by Cossacks. At present he is one of the patron saints of Poland.

"Catholic" Enlightenment

The period of Enlightenment in Poland – unlike in other countries of Europe – was not anticlerical and was not characterised by pitting science against faith. Among the first generations of intellectuals, regarded as the precursors and founders of Polish Enlightenment, we can find as many as two-thirds of clergymen, mainly members of religious orders. Historians go as far as to use the term "Catholic" Enlightenment with respect to what transpired at that time on Polish soil. Clearly inspired by men of the Church, the Commission of National Education was established in 1773, an institution embarking on nationwide educational reforms.

The Church as the Bulwark of the Polish Nation

The partitions of Poland (1795) and the disappearance of the sovereign Polish state resulted also in the division of ecclesial structures and their inclusion into the three absolutist monarchies of Prussia, Austria, and Russia, aiming at the complete subordination of the Church to the structures of the lay state. The Church, whose very existence was at peril, became a natural ally of all kinds of risings aiming at the restoration of national sovereignty, which would break out in Polish territories in almost every generation. During the November Uprising of 1831, the bishops who were members of the Senate of the Polish Kingdom signed an act of dethronement of Tsar Nicolas I (who at the time also usurped the title of a Polish king). During the January Rising of 1863, in turn, Catholic parishes provided natural support to insurgent units. Furthermore, the Church became one of the driving forces behind the so-called organic movement, aimed at the promotion of Polish national spirit, which developed since the mid-19th century in Polish territories under Prussian and Austrian rule. In a situation when Poles did not have their own state and autonomous institutions, the Church remained virtually the only space within which Polish culture could flourish and where the national identity was fostered.

The most severe reprisals during the period of Poland’s partitions were targeted at the Uniate Church. In 1839 Tsar Nicolas I suppressed the Union in the territory of the Russian Empire and the believers were forced to convert into Eastern Orthodoxy. The final dissolution of the Union in the territories of the Polish Kingdom took place in the 1870s, which led to the martyrdom of many Uniates. In 1996 John Paul II beatified Wincenty Lewoniuk and his companions, people who laid down their lives in defence of a Uniate church in Pratulin, in the region of Podlasie in 1874.

The Church in a Sovereign State

After the regaining of sovereignty by Poland in 1918, the Church quickly rebuilt her structures. On 10 February 1925 the Republic of Poland concluded a concordat with the Holy See, followed by a bull of Pope Pius XI entitled Vixdum poloniae unitas, adjusting the borders of the dioceses to the borders of the Polish state.

Of special significance in Poland in the period between the word wars was the Greek Catholic Church with 3.5 million faithful and the Eastern Orthodox Church with ca. 3 million believers. Poland – despite the privileged position of Catholicism – continued to be a country of substantial religious pluralism. In Lviv alone there were three Archbishops, of the Latin, Greek Catholic, and Armenian rite. The largest non-Christian religious community was the Jewish minority, numbering over 3 million followers of Judaism. Anti-Semitism, observed in some right-wing Catholic circles, was repeatedly condemned by the ecclesial hierarchy headed by Cardinal Primate August Hlond.

The twenty-year period between the world wars saw a rapid development of religious orders, Catholic schools, and structures of laity. Apart from the nationwide structures of the Catholic Action set up in 1929, of vital significance were groups of Catholic intelligentsia gathered in the "Odrodzenie" academic movement, maintaining direct ties with the most dynamic centres of the renewal of the Church in Western Europe. It was in this circle that the future Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, grew up.

Wartime Losses

During World War II the Catholic Church in Poland suffered grave losses. The clergy, apart from the Jewish minority, were the most severely persecuted social group. A total of 3,646 priests were incarcerated in Nazi camps and prisons; 2,647 of them were exterminated. Among the inmates of the camp in Dachau alone there were 1,473 priests, 113 seminarians, and 54 religious brethren from Poland, over 800 of whom died there. Some Polish dioceses lost as many as 50 per cent of the clergy. The losses of the Polish clergy in the East of Poland, in the territories annexed by the Red Army, are still not ascertained; no doubt the rate of destruction was no less than in the West.

Communist Persecution

The Yalta agreements of 1945, subjecting Poland to the rule of the Soviet Union, pitted the Church against communism. On 12 September 1945 the so-called Interim Government of National Unity unilaterally broke the concordat with the Holy See. The strongest attack on the Church took place in the late 1940s. Early on communists attempted to limit the activity of the Church exclusively to matters of religious worship, which took the form, for instance, of the liquidation of the majority of Catholic periodicals and the dissolution of associations of laity.

At this time the Episcopate – in contrast to the uncompromisingly anti-communist tactics adopted in the majority of countries under Soviet occupation –in an attempt to soften the deadly blows of the new regime, struck a limited compromise deal with the government in April 1950. In return for the recognition of the legitimacy of the state authorities, it guaranteed the Church the possibility of continuing pastoral ministry.

The heaviest attack against the Church, consisting among others in the arrest of Primate Stefan Wyszyński, took place in 1953. The intensity of the attack was, however, dulled by the death of Stalin and the resultant partial decomposition within the structures of the Soviet communist party. The Primate, released in the wake of the wave of liberalisation of 1956, reappeared on the public scene as a true victor, commencing a programme of the renewal of the nation and the Church. For instance, in1957 in Jasna Góra he inaugurated the Novena before the Millennium of Poland’s Baptism, accompanied by the peregrination of the Jasna Góra Image throughout Poland. This meant over a decade of fierce confrontation of the Church with communism. The Church managed to overcome, enhancing both her pastoral position and her role in the public sphere. This made it possible to set up some new associations of laity, such as Clubs of Catholic Intelligentsia, and a partial reactivation of Catholic press.

The Catholic University of Lublin continued to perform its mission uninterruptedly, offering high-quality tuition to well-educated clergy and lay intellectuals. Hierarchs of the Church in Poland, along with Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, were able to take part in the work of the Second Vatican Council. The Polish Church, as the only one in communist countries, had not lost ties with the Holy See, and took part in the process of the evolution of the universal Church of that time, assimilating it in a most prudent manner, with necessary adjustments to the local conditions.

The position and social authority that the Church in Poland had gained helped her play a significant international role, which was testified by the inauguration of the process of Polish-German reconciliation. This process was launched by a letter of Polish bishops addressed to German brothers in the Episcopate, starting with the words "We forgive and ask forgiveness," published in November 1965, at the close of the Second Vatican Council. Despite the severe critique on the part of the communist regime, who went as far as to accuse the Polish Episcopate of a treason of national interests, the letter facilitated the process of reconciliation of both nations that has continued until now. It is in order to note that one of the German clergymen who enthusiastically accepted the "extended hand" of Polish bishops was the future Metropolitan of Munich, Fr. Joseph Ratzinger. Many historians agree that it was, among others, close friendship with many members of the German Episcopate that later paved the way for Cardinal Karol Wojtyła’s election to papacy.

Election of Cardinal Wojtyła as Pope

The election of the Archbishop of Cracow, Cardinal Wojtyła, as Pope on 16 October 1978 had a tremendous influence both on the position of the Church in Poland and on the self-awareness of the faithful. The Pope’s first pilgrimage to the Homeland in June 1979 led to the creation of a space of freedom, which was primarily responsible for the birth of a powerful opposition movement of "Solidarity." Close ties of the democratic opposition with the Church at that time resulted in the fact that the 10-million-strong "Solidarity" movement had a clearly Christian dimension, which was unique on a European scale and commanded respect worldwide.

The proclamation of martial law on 13 December 1981 by the regime of General Wojciech Jaruzelski marked the beginning of the decline of the communism in Poland. The regime, notorious for its brutal home rule, launched a fierce attack also on the clergymen who provided spiritual and material support for the clandestine structures of "Solidarity." The most spectacular manifestation of this violent attack was the assassination of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, organiser of famous Holy Masses in the intention of Poland in the Warsaw Church of St. Stanislas Kostka.

In the 1980s the Church gained the position of the highest social authority, which later on legitimised her taking on the function of a mediator between the communist regime and the democratic opposition. The 1980s was also a period of intensive pastoral work of the Church. This was inspired by the pilgrimages of John Paul II of 1983 and 1987. Of special significance was an increase in the activity of laity, the rapid development of the "Light-Life" movement of young people, Clubs of Catholic Intelligentsia, and numerous new apostolic movements coming to Poland from Western Europe.

The Church in Free Poland

The fall of the communist regime in 1989, while opening up new possibilities for carrying out the Church’s mission, meant at the same time a confrontation with totally novel problems and social challenges, for which she was not prepared.

The new position of the Church in the public sphere was legally inscribed in the law on the relations between the State and the Catholic Church of 17 May 1989, which recognised the existing ecclesial institutions and guaranteed the Church the fundamental freedoms in the performance of her pastoral mission. It lifted all restrictions on the publishing activity of the Church, and furthermore granted her the right of access to public television and radio and provided for the possibility of owning her own radio stations in all dioceses.

The Church likewise made a decision to resume classes of religious instruction in schools, which made it possible to reach over 90% of young people. The fear expressed by liberal circles that this would lead to an increase in intolerance have proved groundless.

Of special import was the resumption of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, which happened on 17 July 1989, only a few weeks after the swearing in of the new Parliament. Archbishop Józef Kowalczyk, the first Apostolic Nuncio in post-war Poland, arrived in Warsaw. The very person of the new nuncio was unique for the tradition of Vatican diplomacy; the archbishop was a Pole, the founder and head of the Polish Section of the Secretariat of State.

The presence of a permanent representative made it possible for the Holy See to carry out an unprecedented reform of administrative structures of the Church in Poland. Its aim was to "bring bishops closers to the faithful." Pursuant to the bull of Pope John Paul II, Totus tuus Poloniae populus of 25 March 1992, the number of dioceses increased from 27 to 40. At present (after the creation of another two dioceses in 2004) Poland has 14 archdioceses and 27 dioceses as well as the nationwide Archdiocese of the Byzantine-Ukrainian rite (with its seat in Przemyśl) with two dioceses and the Military Ordinariate.

On 28 July 1993 the apostolic nuncio and the then minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Poland, Krzysztof Skubiszewski, signed in Warsaw the Concordat regulating the relations between the State and the Church. It fully guaranteed the liberties gained by the Church in 1989 as well as, in reference to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, confirmed the mutual autonomy of the State and the Church. Furthermore, it provided for the legal consequences of concluding a marriage in church, burying non-believers in Catholic cemeteries, confirmed a voluntary participation of children in school and preschool religious instruction classes, and provided for the financing of the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Cracow. However, the ratification of this document by the Parliament was stalled for four years by postcommunists, who along with the people’s party formed a parliamentary SLD-PSL coalition after a victory in the 1993 parliamentary election. Finally, the Concordat was adopted by the Sejm only on 8 January 1998, and the exchange of ratification documents took place on 25 March at the Vatican, in the presence of Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek.

Under the changed circumstances, the shepherds of the Church sought new solutions not only in the sense of organisational structures, but first and foremost on a pastoral level. Of primary significance in this process was the Second Polish Plenary Synod, inaugurated by John Paul II during his fourth visit to Poland in 1991. It aimed at the mapping out of a new line of pastoral work of the Church following the changes of 1989. The first stage of the work of the Synod consisted in a comprehensive debate on the situation of the Church and her tasks, conducted in over 7,000 synod teams which were composed also of lay people. The results of the many years of work of the Synod were gathered in 15 final documents, adopted in early 1999. The Synod was concluded by John Paul II on 11 June 1999 in the Warsaw Cathedral. The Episcopate likewise embarked on a thorough reform of the system of education in diocesan seminaries.

It is in order to point out that the process of an evolutionary reform of the Church in Poland progressed with the participation and direct inspiration of Pope John Paul II who, while being the Shepherd of the entire Catholic Church, attentively followed the activities of the Church within whom he had grown up.

After 1989 also the governance within the Church underwent a change. It gradually evolved from a centralised model, the legacy of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński who was nearly a sole leader of the local Church (such a model was optimal under totalitarianism, when the Church was persecuted by the regime), towards a collegial model, introduced in reality after the Second Vatican Council. A major step forward on this evolutionary path was the adoption in 1996 of a new statute of the Conference of the Episcopate, which introduced terms of office for all the functions performed within this body, with a maximum period of two five-year terms. In effect, in 2002 the Archbishop of Przemyśl Józef Michalik was elected the new chairman of the Episcopate, succeeding Cardinal Józef Glemp, who had performed this function continuously for 22 years.

An important feature of the evolution of the Church in Poland was a gradual transformation of her attitude towards the political reality. Even if in the early 1990s some clergy, or even members of the Episcopate, were inclined to support political parties that were inspired by Christian ideals, the principle of "autonomy and independence" of the political and ecclesial spheres, introduced during the Second Vatican Council, was gaining ground; this principle was finally guaranteed in the Concordat ratified in 1998. Hence the tendencies to "politicise" the Church and to support one political option, which can be observed in isolated circles (such as for instance the circles associated with Radio Maryja) are currently severely criticised by the Episcopate. This line, represented by the Episcopate, gives the Church an "apolitical" position, which as a consequence results in a heightened trust towards the Church within Polish society. In effect, over 75 per cent of the polled admit their trust in the institution of the Church. At present, the Church in Poland belongs to those public institutions which enjoy the highest degree of confidence among the general public.

At the same time the Church still fulfils the role of a safeguard of such values as respect for human life, protected by Polish law, which defines the circumstances for the admissibility of abortion exclusively under strictly specified conditions: rape, incest, or the state of health of the mother. These provisions have been accepted by successive governments, irrespective of whether they have conservative and right-wing or leftist provenance. This is made possible by the stable model of the relations between the State and the Church, in existence for several years now, which is currently assessed by specialists to be one of the most commendable in Europe.

Marcin Przeciszewski//ter