From Gazeta Wyborcza: A Dominican’s dramatic letter: The Sins of My Church (Dramatyczny list dominikanina: Winy mojego Kościoła)

Dominican Father Ludwik Wiśniewski sent a letter in September to the Vatican’s representative in Poland, Archbishop Celestina Migliore, recounting the major problems facing the Roman Catholic Church in Poland.

“All is not well with the Polish Church. It is large, colorful, impressive – but really is artificially inflated like a balloon. I’m afraid we do not appreciate the risks.”

Rev. Wiśniewski is a famous university chaplain who, in Communist times, signed the first declaration of the Civil Rights movement in Poland. The East German secret police, Stasi, considered him one of the sixty most dangerous persons in the Polish opposition.

The eight page letter presents an unusually severe diagnosis of the Polish Church’s problems. Among the problems he notes:

• Scandalous division within the Polish episcopate: Bishops work against each other by using the facade of Catholic faith to divide society and the Church into rival political camps and causes. These efforts are in effect “pagan as they inflame and divide society and the Church itself.” He noted the recent example of some Bishops writing to major newspapers in support of the “Defenders of the Cross” protests in front of Poland’s Presidential Palace.
• Politics over the Gospel: Half of the priests are “infected with xenophobia, nationalism and shamefully hidden anti-Semitism.” He notes that these priests have lost sight of the boundaries between the gospel and politics. They use vulgarities in the pulpit to condemn or support specific political parties and politicians.
• A lack of discipline: By example he notes the unresolved issue of Radio Maryja, where in addition to prayer, people “learn fanaticism, resentment and even hatred for those who think differently” from a member of the clergy.
• An inability to communicate: The hierarchy is unable to communicate with changing world. Their communications are meant to convey pronounced conviction, zeal, zest, and great confidence, but in the opinion of professionals, they come across as incompetent.

Rev. Wiśniewski proposes a “great debate” that will “restore the true” face “of the church.” This debate should be given to the care of special teams under the auspices of one of the major bishops. This should include a team “to address the issue of education and religious education of children and young people” as well as an assessment of the activity of clergy in the media, particularly that of Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk, director of Radio Maryja.

Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek called the letter a moving call to repair the church.