May we have better lives – all of us!
Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIŚ
We were all waiting for the first results of the parliamentary election. At last, after almost three-hour delay, we saw the tables showing how many per cent each party gained. Naturally, many people were astonished at the result since Law and Justice (PiS) did so much for Poland but it turned out that Poles chose the Citizen’s Platform (PO). We were glad to see that considerably more people than usual went to vote, young people went to vote and it must have been their votes that gave the Citizen’s Platform such success. It turned out that 12% of those who had earlier voted for PiS now chose PO. This transfer of votes is not strange because the ideological differences between both parties are not so big, for example the attitude towards Christianity and to the Church. Naturally, the attitude of the Citizen’s Platform towards many issues, especially towards economy, is more liberal whereas PiS, as they claimed, emphasized social solidarity. As a Catholic editorial board we do not deal with politics sensu stricto. Of course, each has his/her options, sympathies, and convictions for particular political parties or individuals. PiS convinced many people to vote for them because they stressed Christian values, national values as well as their relationship with Radio Maryja and Television Trwam. No wonder many Catholics favour that party. But we should remind you of the fact that Cardinal Dziwisz met Donald Tusk before the election. For many indecisive voters it was a sign of the sympathy of the Church for PO. Therefore, our task was really difficult, especially that we all had enough of the campaign. Fortunately, both options show friendly attitudes towards Catholics and the Church so we do not treat the results of the elections as victory or lost because for us the most important thing is the possibility to evangelise, to proclaim the saving teaching of Christ to people and work for their salvation. But some questions arise, e.g. what will be the attitude of the new Poland’s government to the fundamental Christian values, what will be their attitude towards life as well as abortion and euthanasia. This is an extremely important problem that Europe cannot cope with. The legislation in many European countries is liberal and sanctions killing of the unborn, the old or the disabled. We would like the Polish MPs to preserve our Polish, decisively Christian, stand in accordance with the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. There are many other moral, ethical problems, e.g. homosexual ‘marriages.’ The Church cannot accept this situation and the current worldly trends are far from the Christian options. (In our Library of ‘Niedziela’ we published the book ‘Wojna z chrzescijanstwem’ [War with Christianity] – translated from Italian – by Eugenia Roccella and Lucetta Scarafia, which depicts how the United Nations and the European Union fight with Christianity and its principles. I would like you to read it.) Will the new ruling party, having the majority of MPs in the Sejm and the Senate, withstand the attack of these environments? Another important issue is the attitude towards patriotism. How will the new government see Poland, her roots, history, and culture? How will they see our place in Europe? Will they defend the interests of Poland and Poles, especially those interests that were neglected earlier? I mean the Polish minority in Germany. Will the new government care for the rights of the Polish people just as we secure the rights of the German minority in Poland? Unfortunately, in the times of Tadeusz Mazowiecki the conditions for Poles in Germany were not sufficiently secured. But the Germans ensured their citizens’ rights in our country to the extent that they are represented in our Sejm.
There are many problems but this is not the place and time to collect and analyse them. We will surely face them in the future. PiS leaves PO a good budget and other positive economic elements. I think we should speak about that since some people do not know that, and by the way, the strange thing is that when PiS was the ruling party they could not success as far as information in media was concerned. Today we look at many issues, especially those discussed during the campaign, with reserve. The important thing is that Poland is Poland, that our successes were not squandered and that we would get rid of the destructive phenomenon of corruption, in the face of which we are so helpless. And the new government should see that they could work in better conditions, that some forces that did wrong things are silent now, that from the very beginning they will benefit from what PiS has done for Poland. One should go forward, appreciating the good that has been done so far so that we have better lives, all of us!
"Niedziela" 44/2007