BEATING THE CHURCH - CONTINUED
Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIŚ
The State does not like something in the Church again, that is: too many priests are employed in the military ordinariate. As a result, the liquidation of a few posts of the priests is being planned. Let’s note the situation which has taken a place in Spain recently when the socialist and the enemy of the Church – Jose Luis Zapatero was governing. He started introducing reforms connected with the anti-church legislation concerning the ethics and Christian morality. In the Christian country which is Spain, some regulations of law, definitely anti-Christian started functioning. In different countries in the world similar tendencies are appearing in legislations. We have recently read the statement of Cardinal Francis George from Chicago who said about dangers which threaten the Catholic society because the law under the management of president Obama is aiming at the liquidation of Catholic hospitals, schools and other institutions. In the so-called democratic order only atheistic country can be built, definitely anti-Christian in whose media options of the so-called new liberalism are prevailing! Unfortunately, it also happens so because people do not have a bigger contact with the Church, they do not attend the Sunday Holy Mass and they do not live the faith and, consequently, they devote their attention to those who have a hostile attitude towards the religion, God and Decalogue. There is a similar situation in Poland. On the one hand - we live in a Catholic country, most citizens are baptised but on the other hand – so much harm is done to the Church beyond any punishment, and the Catholics do not say anything, not being aware of what is happening. They let for being deceived by the illusion of allegedly good contacts between the State and the Church, beautiful words proclaimed at the address of the Church before the election or they are not simply interested in the life of the Church. The Church does not want anybody to support this or that priest. However, important matters must be supported, for example, not taxing collections for the activity of the Church. For, neither a priest nor a nun collects money for themselves – donations are collected for charity or social purposes. So, it seems to be a completely right thing to support the Church in it. Today so much attention is given, for example, to giving back the possessions of the Church, which were once plundered by the State. But nobody will say that a friar managed to regain the earlier plundered possession, it is not a private possession of the members in a particular religious order, but it is supposed to serve a work which is connected with its charism, for example, upbringing children and the youth (school, kindergartens, dormitories, nurseries and others). The Church does not pursue any private interests, and if it is thought so, it is an attitude clearly favourable to the ideology of Zapatero. Religion has existed among the mankind since the pre-historic times and is a phenomenon which has always had a social dimension, certainly, building also life of every individual. Therefore, it is impossible to say that it is something unimportant. However, today there are attempts to do revision in school plans in order to exclude religion from the education program, without the consideration of the fact that it is a big social harm. The man deprived of the basic moral norms and reference to God, sooner or later will be suffering from a tragedy of the spiritual emptiness and with more probability, he will be a threat to the society. Everything seems relative to him, only his egoism counts, a wrongly understood freedom and thinking only about his advantages. I do not know whether the leaders of the movement of Palikot are aware of it, fighting everything which is Christian and promotes anti-clericalism. What will they do for that in return? Access to drugs?...
Today I say with much grief about hitting at the Catholic military parishes, at the structures of military pastoral ministry which were built with a lot of effort, causing a kind of normality in the Polish army – which exists in whole Europe and all over the world. And now, suddenly, using the phenomenon of crisis, there are attempts to destroy this effort of the Church. It was not the Church which did abuses, but the State officials have been doing them for two years, and wasting public money in a careless and unjust way. These are the sources of the crisis. Not the Church, not catechisation. The crisis was caused by: immorality, corruption on State posts, wrong decisions of the government and lack of perspective thinking; and all this – in the majesty of impunity and lack of responsibility towards God and the society. Therefore, today we are standing in front of the government, in front of its representatives who are throwing stones at us and we are asking a question which Christ once asked: ‘Why are you beating me? (J 18,23)
(AA)
"Niedziela" 12/2012