Keeping the faith

The visit of the pontiff to his homeland is an occasion for a demonstration of national unity. The Polish people's love for the Pope is genuine. Here is an authority figure who breeds respect. No one questions his motives or his message. Poles love the Pope so much because he makes them feel better about themselves. If such a great man is a Pole, that makes all Poles feel they are worth something. There is great pride in his achievements and his stature as a worldwide religious leader and statesman. It was ironic, then, that for once it was the governing left that was looking forward to the visit more than the opposition. What a contrast to the days of communism, or even the early 1990s. In those days, the communists, and later the post-communists, must have dreaded every day of such a visit. It showed how the people were supporting the very institution and social order that they, the left, were committed to ir-reversibly changing. The left this time around was keen to seize on any support the Pope's visit might offer for the cause of European integration and also on his calls to show compassion for the poor and to help the unemployed. It will not be so keen to remember the Pope's words on the right to life (the abortion) issue, euthanasia, genetic engineering and his assertion that Poland should preach the Christian message in an increasingly secular Europe.

Before the visit, some on the right quietly grimaced at the Pope's support for European integration and his categorical opposition to the death penalty. The hard right has long twisted the Pope's words on European integration to make out that he is supporting Europe only as long as it follows the Christian moral code. Since we have euthanasia, abortion and gay marriages in Europe, then, obviously, the Pope is not cal-ling on us to support the European Union, argue the supporters of conservative Radio Maryja. Three years ago, some on the right were distraught when the Pope invited the reelection-seeking President Aleksander Kwaśniewski into his Pope mobile. They understood that he was preaching national unity and tolerance, that he was showing that Kwaśniewski with his deeds, such as the piloting of the concordat between the church and state through the skeptical Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), was a genuine partner rather than a foe. Nevertheless, they still felt a little betrayed.

The Pope, predictably enough, refused to become a plaything in the hands of any party politicians. He spoke about moral and spiritual issues. He voiced his concern about the plight of the unemployed and the poor, the undoubted casualties of the transformation process. He spoke of Poland as the guardian of Christian va-lues in Europe. Most Poles are not particularly defined in terms of left and right, and what matters for them is the whole atmosphere surrounding the visit, a sense of belonging and participating that they do not enjoy in their everyday lives. Sadly, this does not always stretch to actually studying closely the Pope's message. The last few months have shown that the state of public opinion in Poland is deeply unfavo-rable to the transformation process, which has been taking place in the country for the past 12 years with the support of the Catholic Church. The hard and painful road to European norms in terms of economic and democratic practice is no longer the object of public support.

According to recent surveys, 40% of Poles believe life was better under communism with only 35% choosing the present system. About 65% of Poles believe that the state should look after people, while only 28% declare that this is the primary responsibility of the individual and the family. About 62% of voters support maintaining uneconomic enterprises to alleviate unemployment. Add to that widespread support for the death penalty and a majority in favor of abortion in cases of poverty, and the picture of a deeply Catholic and anticommunist nation collapses. The political elites were desperate to use the Pope's visit to improve their relations with the general public and to shore up support for EU membership. The pro-government journalists were so keen to make the Pope's visit help their political masters that in the absence of the Pope explicitly declaring his support for Poland's membership, they came out with gems such as, "the Pope did not oppose Poland's integration with the EU." This kind of overzealous and manipulative propaganda will not work. For the Poles, the Pope is totally above politics. It is as if he were from a different world. This is why any hope that the Pope's visit can change anything on the poli-tical scene is absolutely false. For better or worse, the separation of church and state in the minds of the public is a permanent fact of life.

Chris Mularczyk is a Warsaw-based consultant. He can be e-mailed at cmularczyk@wbj.pl.