Catholic during the PiS rule

For the first time in the history of the Third Polish Republic, we have a one-party government. For the second time, the right is in power. For the second time, the prime minister is a member of the right-wing party Law and Justice. For many of us, especially young people, it is a source of joy and pride. It is also a reason for genuine joy for the multitude of deeply religious Catholics in our country. It seems that the government will finally act in the interest of Poland, Poles, respecting Christian values, caring for the poorest.

The situation seems ideal for building social justice based on the social teaching of the Catholic Church. Wouldn’t it be great if finally no one in our country would feel inferior and deprived of a chance for a dignified life? However, there is a great temptation to build a utopia, the kingdom of heaven on earth, Civitas Christiana, to which it has been succumbed for centuries and which has done great harm to kingdoms, states, nations and the Church. And it seems that our nation faced just such a temptation. It concerns almost all ruling politicians, clergy and lay faithful. So how should a Catholic think and act when the party he supports is in full power?

1. He should remember that he lives in a community of different people. A Catholic lives in a specific state, national, church, neighborhood and family community. People are around us, none of them look and think the same as we do. A Catholic should know the people he lives with on a daily basis. Of course, to the best of our ability, we will not be friends with all of them, but at least we should know their names. As far as possible, we should know their needs and respond to them. For all needs, material, spiritual and mental. A Catholic should accept, tolerate, ie put up with the dissimilarity of human characters and views. The Catholic does not have a monopoly on truth and justice. A Catholic has no right to tell others how to live, because he is to live himself so that others would be delighted with his life in God and want to live such a life themselves. A Catholic cannot impose his vision of the world, state and state power on anyone. A Catholic has a duty to love his neighbor as himself. The Catholic is called to be responsible for himself and the people he lives with and meets every day. This responsible love manifests itself in a commitment to the community. A Catholic should wisely engage socially and politically, as well as in the Church service. A Catholic should take into account the needs of the elderly, the poor, the sick, the disabled, the unemployed and all excluded. A Catholic should also be responsible for the environment around him.
2. A Catholic should remember that all authority comes from God (see Rom. 13), and that Providence is our greatest defender and benefactor. And the other man, even the most noble one, will never provide us with such security and support as our God the Father in Heaven. A Catholic should obey any authority, whether it supports it or not. Regardless of whether his views are consistent with those represented by the current rulers. Even if the authority seems to be evil, totalitarian, destructive, a Catholic should obey it as far as the social obligation requires it. A Catholic is not allowed to confuse Church affairs with state affairs. A Catholic should not claim that his religion should be the state religion, the only right one. The Lord Jesus lived at a time when Israel was occupied by Rome, hence the Messiah appeared among the Jews as the one who would free the country from the yoke of hostile power. And what a disappointment it was when Jesus was not interested in the political squabbles into which he was occasionally drawn. The Lord Jesus was not interested in the statehood of Israel at all, but in its spirit. “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21). For a Catholic is more of a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven than of any earthly kingdom.
3. A Catholic should therefore distinguish between divine matters and imperial matters, he should have a sense of prudence so as not to be a scandal to his fellow citizens. Hence, a Catholic should first and foremost be an honest citizen. He should pay all taxes (cf. Mt 22: 15-22 and Mt 17: 24-27). He cannot cheat, steal or delude. A Catholic should follow the law, which includes expresses itself in the observance of road traffic regulations. A Catholic is obliged to report to the relevant services situations in which this law is violated. In the spirit of responsibility for the community, he should not apply for unnecessary social benefits. PLN 500 per child is not always needed. This benefit cannot be the basis of income, and it is worth remembering that “whoever does not want to work, let him not eat” (2 Thess 3:10).
4. A Catholic has no right to offend, use any kind of violence against his adversaries. A Catholic is not allowed to use words like “inferior”, “thieves”, “codmakers are rubbish” etc. A Catholic has no right to exclude, offend others for the faults, actions or attitudes of his ancestors from the past. Which does not mean abandoning the aspirations to learn the truth about the history of your nation and state. And even if this truth is painful, mercy is owed to everyone. A Catholic cannot drown out voices critical of the government, he should create a space in which the opposition’s voice is heard. A Catholic is therefore called to an honest and substantive discussion on matters important for the state and society. A Catholic should be open to reflections, ideas and proposals of people who have a different vision of good for the country.
5. A Catholic should support every human life with prayer and action, in a spirit of deep responsibility and solidarity with the poorest, so that this life can develop with dignity, both before and after birth. It is not an art to repeat strong slogans, but we need reliable reflection and specific actions so that we can actually build the civilization of life in our country. A Catholic should be merciful, gentle, tender and sensitive to the needs of those who suffer both material and spiritual poverty.

Let’s build a community for all our compatriots, in which no one will feel excluded and excluded. Let us build it in the spirit of Christ’s love of neighbor and solidarity with those whom we share our fate. Let us remember the fleetingness and fluidity of a reality in which nothing is given to us forever. There is no place in it for arrogance, pride and the certainty of having only the right truth and causative power. We have not been given a political messiah and we must not see him in any of the politicians. It is not Józef Piłsudski, Lech Wałęsa, Jarosław Kaczyński or Andrzej Duda. Let us remember that the only permanent salvation we have received from Christ. Let us live it in our everyday life, so that we show God’s love for man with our civic attitudes.

Let us entrust our country and nation to the protection of Providence through the appearance of the Mother of Jesus, our queen, and the patron saints, bishops of Wojciech and Stanisław, and St. Andrzej Bobola SJ.

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