Poland and the EU

Wow, we are already well into March, and I haven’t even begun to journal. It has been a crazy past week, with many, many activities, and the constant awareness of, “I need to write a reflection,” but I simply haven’t been able to do it.

Lent began with a trip to the Benedictine Monastery at Tyniec, where I had been about two weeks ago. I liked it so much, and I decided that, in the spirit of Lenten penitence and sacrifice, I would make a pilgrimage there to attend Ash Wednesday Mass. The liturgy was amazing. Though the church is only about eight miles away, it takes about an hour to get to, since there is no easy mass transit route to get there. From my residence, I have to first take a trolley to the old part of Krakow, then I have to walk across a bridge on the Vistula, and only then do I board a bus, and ride it for about forty five minutes to get to the Abbey of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The abbey church also serves as the local parish church, and I was lucky to get there early enough to get a seat, since the church was so full that there were even people sitting on the steps of the Baroque ambo. The abbot of the monastery, donning miter and crosier, celebrated the Mass, assisted by about fifteen to twenty concelebrants. After the Mass, Fr. Jerzy (see above entry) stopped me, and asked me to wait. He took me inside the courtyard area of the cloister, and gave me a small book with pictures entitled, “Protect the Good,” a series of pictures from the life of the monastery, intertwined with John Paul II’s letter to mark the 950th anniversary of the founding of the abbey. Let me quote from the letter:

“There are forces today that have a powerful means at their disposal and the spirit of Christian Europe is inconvenient, is a stumbling block for them. Therefore they want to destroy it by all possible means. But can we go so far as to be deprived of this great heritage? Can we renounce it so easily—as Europeans and Poles? What other foundation can secure support and survival for us?”

These words, though spoken twelve years ago, seem to be even more important today than they were then. For truly, Europe, and Poland to a lesser extent, faces a true challenge: what will become of its Christian heritage, its very cultural and social foundation? Already in Western Europe, we are seeing the growing problems of strong non-Christian minorities, and the consequential rise of new nationalist movements. Already, we can see the effects of the rejection of Christian morality and standards, such as the high rate of divorce, cohabitation, children born out of wedlock, and the falling birth rate. Indeed, some of these problems are apparent in Poland now as well. Simply put, Poland is dying. Everyday, there are less and less Poles, since the birth rate is about 1.68, well below replacement level. What does this mean? In Western Europe, it means a growing and rapid influx of laborers from Islamic countries, coming to fill badly needed jobs that are not being filled by the local population. In Poland, it means strains on the economy, on the healthcare system, and on Poland’s future as an influential nation in the European Union, since the population is aging, and there are less and less young people to fill jobs, to provide for the elderly, and to rise to positions of power and influence. In reality, the situation is very similar to that of Western Europe. There are major differences, however.

In my humble opinion, I think that Western Europe’s chances of regaining a large Christian majority, not of those who call themselves Christians, but of those who actually live their faith, are fairly low, at least in the next century. Though there are young groups of faithful Catholics, and some evangelical Protestants, it will be along time before they are able to actually have an influence on the culture, on society, and on politics. As it is, a sort of “spirit of indifference” has taken hold of the people; the culture has adopted a post-modernist mentality, where everybody is entitled to their opinion, and as long as they have a set worldview, then everything is ok. The most important thing these days is to be educated, and to stand for something, be it gay rights, the environment, or cage-free chickens. God forbid that anybody should propose that there is an objective truth though. There truly is a “dictatorship of relativism,” as Pope Benedict observed. As long as one stands for something, some modern idea that will serve for “progress,” then everything is fine. “Progress” has become the goal in Brussels, be it progress in space technology (the EU plans to join efforts with Russia to send a manned craft into orbit soon), or progress in “human rights,” such as homosexual marriage, which each member country “must” adopt. Of course, then there is the question of what laws from the Euro-Parliament are binding, and which are not, since technically the member countries have autonomous constitutions, and are entitled to their own laws, yet if these constitutions contradict the European constitution, then its laws must be followed. Thus, the European constitution itself is contradictory (and sort of a lame-duck, since it has not been ratified due to France’s rejection of it last summer, and nobody really knows what to do with it). The funny thing is, though, that after it was signed, the original copy was launched into space, as a sign of victory, of new beginnings, of a quasi-divine document to guarantee freedom and progress. The only place that the original is located now, is in the heavens above this New Continental Order. Except that it was a failure. And as the constitution looks down upon Europe from its orbit in space, Europe seems to be paralyzed, with a growing split between the poor and rich countries, and a rising sense of a loss of identity among member states.

The difference between Poland and the West is that in Poland, there is a spirit of optimism, and hope. The lukewarm, lazy, and nonchalant attitude of Western Europe is not present here at all, possibly for a few reasons. First of all, Poles have always been very political. Looking at the history of Poland, and especially at the exceptional rights of the nobility in the early modern period, one can see an avid interest in politics, quarreling, and a genuine concern about the welfare of the Polish state (intermingled with trying to assure personal gains, of course). The Polish nobility enjoyed unprecedented freedoms, compared to Western Europe, and were always able to have a say in the direction of their country, as is evident in the three hundred years of electoral kings. Yet, the elections were always characterized by bitter argument, quarreling, and debate as to who should be king. Many times, there were even two kings elected, and whoever could come to be crowned first would end up the king. Perhaps these elections were the origin of the saying, “where there are two Poles, there are three opinions.” Either way, this spirit of quarrel, debate, and interest in politics has remained to this day, and so Poles are actively involved in daily debates about the government, about the EU, and about the future of Poland.

Secondly, I would say that communism, for all it was worth, might have at least been an indirect cause of optimism. While the West was going through the sexual revolution, the change in worldviews of the 1960’s, the Polish people and the eastern communist states were suffering under the persecution of totalitarianism, repressed and persecuted. Now that communism is gone, Poles can finally actually have a chance to take part in politics, and in the political process. Compared to the United States, even, it is very easy for an ordinary person, like a school teacher, to be elected to the Polish Sejm, the legislative body. What requires money in the United States requires good wits, rational argument, and optimism in Poland. Thus, while Western Europe stagnates and faces a general apathy for life and culture, Poland grows in optimism, which the last presidential elections show. The post-communist SLD party, after having nearly 70% support when it came to power in 1995, lost the last election, and gained a support of 4%. The new president, Lech Kaczynski, belongs to the Law and Justice party, a party that prides itself on preserving Polish national identity through an embracing of Poland’s cultural, religious, and historical heritage. Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz enjoys a popular support of 70%! Why? Because the new government has awakened in Poles the spirit of pride in their country, and in their culture. They have reflected upon the sacrifices the previous generations made, such as in the Warsaw Uprising, which has sort of become a political symbol of the “new Poland.” They have resisted the homosexual agenda, for which Western Europe, and especially France, hates Poland. As President of Warsaw, Kaczynski banned a gay parade in the city, in which about a few hundred Poles from around the country wanted to participate, joined by delegates sent here by the EU from Germany and Denmark. Though the media and the EU try to heavily push the liberal agenda on Poland, their efforts have been fruitless so far, as shown by the presence of a few hundred activists from a country of thirty eight million people. The Polish people and government resist.

Which brings me to reason number three that distinguishes Poland from the rest of the EU. Faith. The faith of the Poles has undergone trial and persecution for centuries, and yet has continued in strength. The “blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” and as Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, who was brutally murdered by the communist authorities for preaching freedom, said in 1984, “If one were take a handful of Polish soil, and squeeze it, the blood of Polish martyrs would trickle out onto his hand.” Indeed, Poland has probably had more unnamed martyrs than any other country, be it during the bloody Cossack uprisings of the 17th century, the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian partitions of the eighteenth century, which wiped Poland off the map of Europe until 1918, or during the 20th century, when Poland was the battleground of three wars, only to end up under the influence of the Soviets, largely due to the concessions of Roosevelt. Throughout all of this, the Church stood strongly and resisted, be it through the strong leaders such as Karol Wojtyla, or Cardinal Wyszinski, or the saints whose acts of love were only visible to God, such as the “martyr of charity,” St. Maximilian Kolbe, or the messenger of Divine Mercy, St. Faustyna. In the face of repression, the Poles had to place their hope in God, who was so often their only hope in the face of terrible darkness and suffering. This faith of the Poles remains today. For example, Poland currently produces one third of Europe’s vocations. While the West wonders what to do with its churches, and places like Amsterdam are converting church buildings into bars, nightclubs, and brothels, the Polish churches are full, and new shrines are being continuously built. An example is the new Shrine of Divine Providence, being built in Warsaw, or the Shrine to Our Lady of Lichen, a new shrine that was built, and is the seventh largest church in the world (as far as I remember). Why, then, are the divorce rates rising, the birth rates falling, and the population dying?

“Nobody can lead a life free from temptation,” St. Augustine once said. Perhaps more people have lost their faith in Poland in the last fifteen years than in all of the years of communism. The western materialist culture and consumerist outlook on life is taking hold of the country. When the market was starved, western companies saw it as the perfect opportunity to make big money, and came with their French “hypermarkets,” German pornography, and American restaurants and investments. Many people have fallen prey to the power of money. The Church has become an obstacle to their consciences, an inconvenience that tells them what they “have to do.” The problem in the Church is not the “spirit of dissent,” so often present in the U.S., but rather, a spirit of complacency. People are baptized, they go to Church a few times a year, and “God is fine with it.” There are, however, many, many so-called “movements” which are active in many parishes, especially here in Krakow, and also in the entire country. Perhaps Poland will be spared, to an extent, from the “mustard seed” model of the Church, which Cardinal Ratzinger suggested a number of years ago. Whereas in the West, the faith is now found in small, scattered groups, that are strong in their faith, here in Poland, that model is not yet in place. Perhaps it never will be. The younger generation, like in the United States, is very split in their opinions and beliefs, but those who understand their cultural heritage are very actively fighting to defend it, and will not give in to the utilitarian and materialistic approach to life in the West. They understand and have taken to heart John Paul’s message at Tyniec, as well as his universal teachings. Truly, Poland cannot “go so far as to be deprived of this great heritage. Can we renounce it so easily—as Europeans and Poles? What other foundation can secure support and survival for us?”

On that note, I leave to go to my Polish Language class, which makes almost six hours of lectures on Mondays!! I will have to write about my weekend skiing excursion next time.