The Church and the world
Fr Ireneusz Skubis
'Contro il Cristianesimo. L'ONU e l'Unione Europea come nuova ideologia' - a new book on the Italian market, the fruit of inquisitiveness of Eugenia Roccella and Lucetta Scaraffia, two Italian journalists who show the ideology of the UN and EU actions against Christianity. The Authors show that he basis of the activities of these two institutions is the atheistic doctrine, which is connected with the spirit of the international freemasonry. As a fatter of fact, if we have a closer look at some ideas that the United Nations and the European Union have promoted recently we can see that there is something strange going on in the world and in Europe. We can observe that Christianity is discriminated. Let us for example recollect the struggle concerning the reference to God and Christian values in the preamble of the European Constitution. And yet the history of Europe is first of all the history of Christianity. We have decided to publish a Polish edition of the book (the title: 'Przeciw chrzescijanstwu. ONZ i Unia Europejska jako nowa ideologia' - Against Christianity. UN and EU as a new ideology) so that we can realize what kind of world we are living in and what we are likely to struggle against, perhaps at the cost of suffering, as it was the case in the first ages of Christianity.
However, the strange thing is that on the one hand the world experienced so much the great pontificate of John Paul II, so many people came for the meetings with that Great Pope, including Poland, and on the other hand we have seriously departed from Christian ideas. For example, the European Parliament election did not point at the Christian option. Neither do our elections. Each time John Paul II visited Poland he was cheered and welcomed with great enthusiasm. How much all Poles rejoiced! And afterwards there were elections and the people voted for atheists or for those who declared to be communists or post-communists. The criticism of the Church increased. And I remember that at Jasna Gora John Paul II stressed that one could not say 'yes' to Christ and 'no' to the Church. One must see Christ in the Church and see the Church proclaim Christ. Different thinking does not make sense.
Recently I have talked to certain sociologist who has claimed that Polish Catholics do not always feel their bond with the Church and they very frequently dissociate themselves from the Church. I can see that in the distribution of the Catholic press. Priests are often helpless and they ask what to do because people do not want to read Catholic press or books about faith. Once I sadly watched people leaving the church after Mass and not noticing the altar boys who sold 'Niedziela'. People reacted as if the view of Catholic press burnt them. But many of us feel they do not know the Church, the Catholic teaching on upbringing and Christian family, and they feel the need to look at our government through the prism of the Catholic social teaching. Why is there such reluctance to the press called 'Catholic'?
There are thousands of papers in Poland. We can see that Catholics many a time buy awful rags and regard it as something normal. We might be influenced by the mass media, which are directed against God and the Church, and which aspire to secularization. Of course, that exerts influence on our lives and the lives of our families. We sometimes hear young people's talks and notice they are ashamed of their relationships with the Church. We are certainly reaping the fruit of the totalitarian times, but after all contemporary man is truly free and can choose freely. Why cannot we open ourselves to the essence of the Church's activities?
That attitude of Catholics often puts off those who work for the Church and discourage them from further involvement. I also tell our editors that if people knew how much effort we put to make the teaching and information of the Church as well as views of the people of the Church known and reflected on, they might look at our work differently. But people are often drawn by ordinary bauble or demagogic slogans. It is sad. Christ himself obliged Catholics to receive and proclaim the Gospel. Catholics are obliged to be Catholics not only during the ceremonies of baptism, wedding and funeral but to be Catholics all the time. Let us consider whether we do not yield to the influence of freemasonry, the influence of worldly destruction, which wants to destroy Christ and Christianity. But Christ said about the Church that 'the powers of death shall never conquer it' (cf. Matthew 16:18). This is our faith and may it give us strength and desire to work in spite of future fears and trends.
"Niedziela" 40/2005