Poland’s Roman Catholic primate and bishops have done an about-face on their recent controversial demand to do away with the country’s official separation of church and state.
The bishops’ push to make Catholicism, in effect, the state religion had caused some concern among American Jewish observers of the Eastern European scene, not only for what it might have meant for Poland’s tiny minority of fewer than 10,000 Jews, but also because it might have prompted other Eastern European nations to follow suit.
The bishops stated May 2 that they “proclaim themselves in favor of both the autonomy of state and church, and of their cooperation in the service of the same human person.”
And in a sermon broadcast nationally Sunday night to Poland’s 38 million citizens, over 95 percent of whom are Catholic, Cardinal Jozef Glemp said, “The church and state stand on different levels, should be independent from each other, but somehow bound to cooperate for the benefit of man. If such autonomy is called separation, that is acceptable.”
“We’re glad that they’ve issued this statement, and that Glemp has announced this,” said George Spectre, director of political education at B’nai B’rith International. “Maintaining the separation reflects the will of the Polish people themselves.”
But Spectre said B’nai B’rith is seeking further clarification from the church as to what “the benefit of man” means.
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