Do you remember the film “The Clergy” by Wojciech Smarzowski, and the narrative about its role in the process of cleansing the Church? Do you remember the documentary “Just Don’t Tell Anyone” by Sekielski, which was supposed to perfectly fulfill this role? The fight against pedophilia was just a smokescreen and this fight didn’t include any other circles apart from the Church. Many have been misled by the insincere concern for the good of the Church. The effects can already be seen – the most significant is an increase of Christianophobia in Poland: physical attacks on priests, acts of vandalism in consecrated places and desecration.
In its 2018 report, the Ordo Iuris Center of Religious Freedom (Centrum Wolności Relgijnej Ordo Iuris) listed 31 incidents that appear to have been hate crimes against Christians in Poland and almost a thousand acts of discrimination or what is called Christianophobia. This is only a fraction of the real number of occurrences, because the real scale of acts of hatred and aggression is not known and many such incidents are not reported. One of the reasons is that there is no hope of finding the perpetrators. Among the cases reported within the last year, the dominant type were crimes against property – acts of vandalism, theft, and arson attacks on churches, altars, chapels and cemeteries. There are also some well-documented cases of offences against religious feelings and malicious disruption of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Wesprzyj nas już teraz!
We already know that this picture changed dramatically in 2019. The attacks are bolder and more brutal. The perpetrators have the courage to attack in front of witnesses and in public places. There have even been attempts on somebody’s life. They are motivated by hatred to the Church, to the Faith, to anything Catholic. All of these things are happening at the same time when so many concerned pseudo-experts have been trying to repair the Church. Is this just a coincidence?
Rypin, on June 8, 2019. During morning Mass a 46-year-old man damaged the Missal, candles and a microphone with an axe. He was captured with the help of the faithful. He was under the influence of alcohol and was apparently suffering from mental illness.
Wrocław, in the morning on June 10, 2019. A man with a knife attacked Father Ireneusz Bakalarczyk, the director of the notary’s office of the Wrocław Curia and the chaplain for faithful Latin traditions, who was on his way to morning Mass. Everything started innocently with a conversation. Then, the aggressor stabbed him in the chest. After being detained by the police he claimed that his act was related to the documentary by the Sekielski brothers.
Suchy Las, on July 21, 2019. A 31-year-old woman who was under the influence of alcohol caused damage and performed acts of sacrilege in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The woman broke into the church smashing a window. She damaged the altar, the Psalter and some candles and pots.
Szczecin, on July 28, 2019. In the sacristy of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist some clergymen and a female sacristan were physically attacked. Two men beat up and swore at the priests. They demanded the chasubles be handed over, because they wanted to “celebrate the Mass” and marry each other. They allegedly struck one of the priests in the face with a rosary. An employee of the sacristy was hit in the face twice.
These are only a few of the known incidents that have happened in the past few weeks. Many more such attacks have occurred this year. Teenage perpetrators desecrated the Stations of the Way of the Cross in the Panewniki Calvary. They painted vulgar words and Satanist symbols and texts on the monuments with black paint. In Piłka, Greater Poland, unknown perpetrators scattered grave candles and flowers and tore out figures of Christ from grave crosses in the parish cemetery. In Lower Silesia teenagers spray painted a figure of Our Lady. In Katowice a figure of the crucified Christ was stoned…
Damaged chapels, statues, gravestones… and that’s not all. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about a teenage girl who didn’t care about the memory of the departed and decided to organize “a show” on some graves and post her performance on social media. Such behavior doesn’t come out of nowhere. For months we have witnessed LGBT+ circles attacking the Church and sacred things with impunity. Desecrating an image of the Mother of God has been seen as a show of solidarity with allegedly persecuted sexual minorities. It has been possible to parody the Holy Mass, a Corpus Christi procession… And the police… the police ensure the safety of the aggressors. And that encourages them.
Priests are not only derided and called pedophiles on the street… They were labeled as such by such films as “The Clergy” by Wojciech Smarzowski, and “Just Don’t Tell Anyone” by Tomasz Sekielski combined with increasing media attacks on the Church. Today, while the atmosphere is more and more hostile to the Church and to the faithful, attackers resort to fisticuffs. Where are those who when Paweł Adamowicz, the mayor of Gdańsk, was killed shouted, “Stop hate!”? Where were those opposed to the aggressive behavior of football hooligans after the equality march in Białystok? Well, they can be found accompanying rainbow parades, talking openly about fighting for their rights. In the street such people seek acceptance for those who, in the name of tolerance and nondiscrimination, offend everyone and pose as the oppressed.
Only a few people actually care for the fate of the harmed Catholics. And the enemies of the Church are fulfilling their plan to destroy the Church…
Christianophobia is becoming rampant in Poland. And this is the true face of discrimination.
Marcin Austyn
transl. Jan J. Franczak
