THE POLISH VOICE

No. 19

The Polish Voice

A Community of Values

Archbishop Henryk Muszyński, the representative of the Polish Episcopate at the EU Episcopates Commission, talks to Marcin Mierzejewski.

Integration and Christian values: (from left) Jan Kułakowski, former Poland's chief negotiator in talks with the EU, Gdańsk archbishop Henryk Gocłowski, archbishop Muszyński and Lublin archbishop Józef Życiński

You take part in the work of the EU Episcopates' Commission. What are the tasks of this entity?

The commission deals with the ethical assessment of the problems Europe faces. These include EU enlargement, migration, the introduction of the euro and documents issued by the European Union. Subcommittees deal with individual problems. For example, the bioethics subcommittee passes opinions on such topical issues as cloning and euthanasia, from the point of view of religion and the teachings of the Church.

But it should be remembered that being a representative of Poland, a country which is not an EU member yet, I do not enjoy full membership rights in the commission. I'm an associate member and the same is the case with representatives of other candidate countries' Churches.

Does the Polish Episcopate favor Poland's integration with the EU?

This is a complex problem and you cannot sum it up simply by saying you are for or against. The mission of the Church is complementary to the mission of the state authorities, the government and parliament, and the Episcopate does not intend to interfere with their powers. However, it is obvious that the Polish Church must not remain indifferent to Poland's integration with the European Union because this issue is extremely important for the nation and will determine Poland's fate for the coming decades.

The Church supports integration wherever it serves the good of human beings. This results from our basic law-the law of charity. Wherever the law of charity is binding, borders are moot. This is how the Episcopate's position on European integration, announced in March, should be understood: the Church is ready to support this process if it respects fundamental human rights, serves human development and the common good of the nation.

But this should not be taken too literally as support for the current political and economic activities for which the civilian authorities of the state are responsible. What the Church does is to consider common ethical and spiritual values that lie at the foundation of a common Europe. This is what the complementarity of the state authorities and the Church I have mentioned consists of. For us, Europe does not only mean a productive and social community, but above all a community of objectives, values, culture and history.

Of course, the will of the nation expressed in a democratic way is also a condition of our support for Poland's integration with Europe. In the communist era, Poland participated in a sort of "international integration," but it was totalitarian in character and the nation's will was not taken into account.

Could you comment on the discussions going on within the Episcopate on Europe's integration and future? There are reports that there is no unanimity and the bishops are divided.

The problem of integration is extremely complex, so you can hardly expect the discussion to be unanimous. But claiming that the Episcopate is divided is definitely going too far. All bishops, irrespective of differences in their opinions on individual issues, are agreed that the center of gravity in the Church's position on integration should be the protection of certain values that may be threatened in this process.

One example is the draft Charter of European Male and Female Citizens, as proposed by the European Social and Civil Forum, which does not mention religious, moral and ethical values. In the difficult discussion about Europe's future, one should avoid extreme opinions. But in my view, the charter in the proposed form attests either to shortsightedness or prejudice. Without these values, Europe will not be Europe.

The draft charter defines common values exclusively in the democratic, political, social and welfare aspects. The ethical values are not mentioned. However, man is an ethical being in nature and needs to have the criterion of good and evil specified. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, where you can find the sentence "aware of our religious, ethical and spiritual values," deals with this problem much better.

Neither economics nor politics will provide Europe with a foundation for lasting unity. This foundation has to be made of some sort of spiritual "binding agent." If you look at history, you see that what bound Europe together for a thousand years was definitely broadly-understood Christian civilization-Christianitas. Today, the Europeans, irrespective of their outlook, accept at least elements of this culture.

I would like to be understood in the right way: I do not mean that we need to move Europe backwards. It should be appreciated that the Europe of today is pluralistic in the economic, political, cultural, ethnic and religious sphere. But the point is that the values that determined the shape of the European community of nations in the past should be present in the European community of the future.

I feel that you don't need to be a believer to appreciate the importance of the "religious binding" of Europe. The belief in one God unites the Jews, Muslims and Christians who live here. Moreover, one should remember that the evangelical values on which the Church teachings are based are deeply humanitarian. A far-sighted politician who cares for Europe's good has to be aware of this. And fortunately, there are such politicians in the European Union. I have recently taken part in a meeting with Jacques Delors, who called efforts to eliminate the Church from public life as a misunderstanding.

What position will the Church take on the accession referendum scheduled for next year? Can the pro-European Leszek Miller government count on the bishops' support in the campaign preceding the vote?

Representing a predominantly Catholic nation, the Church obviously believes it has the right to take part in the discussion and shaping of a future Europe. We cannot give it up. However, there will definitely be no recommendation as to how to vote because this is not the Church's task.

We treat people as conscious beings and fully recognize the role of the civil society. Our task is to illuminate the earthly reality with the light of the Gospel. In this context, the Church will formulate criteria on the basis of which believers will be able to form an opinion what a social good for Poland is. In doing so, we will follow in the footsteps of the Episcopates of other countries-Italy, Spain, Austria-which joined the Union in the past. Before the referendum, these Episcopates did not give clear recommendations how to vote.

Any arrangement between the Church and government before next year's referendum is out of the question. In line with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, the state and church authorities should cooperate with each other for the common good of the nation, however on the principles of independence and autonomy. We neither want to help the government nor even support it in the breadth of its powers. At the same time, we believe that the government will perform its task well and will manage to negotiate the best possible accession conditions in the political and economic arena.

But the Polish Church does not speak unanimously about integration. This is attested, for example, by the clearly anti-European attitude of Radio Maryja, a popular Catholic radio station, and opinions voiced by the League of Polish Families (LPR), a parliamentary opposition party appealing to the electorate who support national and Catholic values. Referring frequently to the pope's authority, these milieus point to alleged threats to the Polish national identity and warn of the forthcoming partition of Poland. What is your opinion about the attitude of these factions?

Radio Maryja is part of the Church and I am convinced it will take into account the bishops' teachings related to integration. If this isn't the case, we will take a position on this issue. The Episcopate has established a Team for Pastoral Care for Radio Maryja, where these problems will be touched upon on a regular basis.

The bishops' letter on integration includes an excerpt which says that we are trying to understand the fears voiced by many Poles in this connection. You cannot criticize a farmer who fears for his future-who knows what he has today, but doesn't know what the changes resulting from Poland's accession to the EU may bring him. But you have the right to criticize politicians who exploit these fears in order to make political capital out of them. This is unfair because a politician should look further ahead.

One can argue in what sense integration poses a threat to sovereignty in the political, economic and environmental aspects and whether these days there exists sovereignty in the media, for instance. I also understand the opposition of many people towards the notion of "limited sovereignty." This brings associations with Brezhnev's doctrine, something which had been imposed on Poland. It's very easy to exploit these doubts. But the duty of responsible politicians who speak about these doubts is to show that certain concessions are a necessary price for the possibility of helping to decide the future shape of Europe.

Of course, everybody has the right to voice their own opinion on this matter, because these are not religious truths but issues that are subject to discussion. However, those who take part in the discussion and call themselves Catholics should take into consideration the position expressed by the bishops. Unfortunately, opponents of integration sometimes exploit for their own purposes even the words of the pope, who is a great authority for the Poles, quoting only those fragments that suit them. The Episcopate thinks that such manipulative treatment of the teachings of John Paul II and the Church's doctrine is unacceptable. The fundamental principle of hermeneutics, not to mention the principle of elementary honesty, says that you should take into account the context and intentions of the one whom you quote.

The Polish media gave wide coverage to a recent meeting between Poland's Primate Józef Glemp and Commissioner GŸnter Verheugen. How would you comment on contacts between the Polish Church and European Union officials?

First of all, I must explain that the visits to Brussels made by the Polish Episcopate's delegation took place at the invitation of the EU Episcopates' Commission. Their main objective was to discuss-in the context of the EU Episcopates' experience-problems which the Polish Church will face after Poland joins the EU. I am saying so to avoid an impression, created perhaps by media reports, that these were political visits.

The invitation from the EU Episcopates' Commission provided an opportunity to organize a meeting with high-ranking EU representatives. During the meeting, the EU representatives familiarized themselves with our Church's position and feelings and it gave us the opportunity to present our problems to very competent people who are responsible for many important areas of life in the EU. These contacts are being continued. We are also holding talks with representatives of the convention. I have the impression that EU politicians are aware of the important role played by the Church in Poland, also as an institution of a social character.

Since we feel responsible for the future of Europe, it would be paradoxical if we didn't maintain contacts on this plane, if we didn't talk. In my opinion, this is also a sign of normalization, since certain trends aimed at marginalizing the Church, pushing it into the sacristy, have been evident in Europe. On the other hand, there is also a threat that Church institutions could be used in a manipulative way, in order to care for social problems. This is why I have a favorable opinion about our to-date contacts with EU politicians, because I have the impression that they treat Church representatives as serious partners.

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