A match made in heaven?
In a recent article, the German organization Deutsche Welle carried a report on the increasing friction between the Polish government and the Church over the former's proposals to give basic legal rights to homosexuals and ease this country's strict anti-abortion laws.
The article reported that elements of the ruling SLD party are calling on the government to honor its pre-2001 election promises, while at the same time, Prime Minister Leszek Miller is giving these issues a higher profile - not only to distract the public's attention from the ongoing and relentless corruption scandals, but also to get further support for his controversial economic program. Deutsche Welle noted that this was similar to what had happened in Germany recently; leftist politicians needed to undergo some arm-twisting to agree to support a program that financed business tax reductions by making cuts in the social welfare budget.
Timing is also an issue. Miller needed the Church's support to get the EU referendum vote through last June; before then he wasn't going to rock the boat by upsetting the one institution that could (and probably did) make the difference. With accession next May in the bag, he can now concentrate on pulling together the disaffected sections of his party to force through a series of measures which, however unpalatable, the Polish economy desperately needs if any recovery is going to solidify.
The Church's response to this agenda-shift was nothing if not predictable. The article reported that, in his anti-gay rights explanation, leader of the Polish Church, Cardinal Józef Glemp, told a meeting of bishops: "I just can't stand men kissing. Maybe I'm old-fashioned," and went on that abortion "amounted to murder." While such sentiments might be expected, the Archbishop of Lublin, Józef ¯yciñski, went further and accused some SLD politicians of returning to the old Leninist traditions, when tactics were more important than values and respect for human life.
Deutsche Welle included other points of view, among them the head of the Committee for Women and Family Planning, who referenced a recent opinion poll showing that 61 percent of Poles are in favor of easing the current restrictive laws. This may be an indication that, however strong Polish faith is, perhaps a majority of ordinary people really wouldn't be so bothered if these laws were changed.
But for Leszek Miller and the SLD, almost all of this is good news. As long as acres of local newsprint are being filled up with the reporting of gay rights and abortion issues, the focus is shifted away from the appallingly high unemployment rate, the botched privatization program, and of course, the corruption scandals.
Chris Wells takes a jagged jaunt through what the world's English-language press is saying about Poland
The article reported that elements of the ruling SLD party are calling on the government to honor its pre-2001 election promises, while at the same time, Prime Minister Leszek Miller is giving these issues a higher profile - not only to distract the public's attention from the ongoing and relentless corruption scandals, but also to get further support for his controversial economic program. Deutsche Welle noted that this was similar to what had happened in Germany recently; leftist politicians needed to undergo some arm-twisting to agree to support a program that financed business tax reductions by making cuts in the social welfare budget.
Timing is also an issue. Miller needed the Church's support to get the EU referendum vote through last June; before then he wasn't going to rock the boat by upsetting the one institution that could (and probably did) make the difference. With accession next May in the bag, he can now concentrate on pulling together the disaffected sections of his party to force through a series of measures which, however unpalatable, the Polish economy desperately needs if any recovery is going to solidify.
The Church's response to this agenda-shift was nothing if not predictable. The article reported that, in his anti-gay rights explanation, leader of the Polish Church, Cardinal Józef Glemp, told a meeting of bishops: "I just can't stand men kissing. Maybe I'm old-fashioned," and went on that abortion "amounted to murder." While such sentiments might be expected, the Archbishop of Lublin, Józef ¯yciñski, went further and accused some SLD politicians of returning to the old Leninist traditions, when tactics were more important than values and respect for human life.
Deutsche Welle included other points of view, among them the head of the Committee for Women and Family Planning, who referenced a recent opinion poll showing that 61 percent of Poles are in favor of easing the current restrictive laws. This may be an indication that, however strong Polish faith is, perhaps a majority of ordinary people really wouldn't be so bothered if these laws were changed.
But for Leszek Miller and the SLD, almost all of this is good news. As long as acres of local newsprint are being filled up with the reporting of gay rights and abortion issues, the focus is shifted away from the appallingly high unemployment rate, the botched privatization program, and of course, the corruption scandals.
Chris Wells takes a jagged jaunt through what the world's English-language press is saying about Poland
