The Roman Catholic Church in Poland vis-à-vis Europe and the Processes of European Integration. Three Pictures of Europe

Abstract

The main aim of my research is the analysis of the standpoint of Roman Catholic Church in Poland towards Europe, understood as a broad integration process concerning policy and European structures, as also European culture and ideas. The method of my research was the analysis of content of the official and unofficial documents of Roman Catholic clergy in Poland from 1990 to 2014. I discovered that in the discourse of the Church in Poland, we can find three main images of Europe and three main standpoints towards the integration process.

The first image is the most common of the three among the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. In this view, European culture was formed in the Middle Ages (during the time of Charlemagne or Christianisation), as a result of activity of sacrum. Next, Europe fell, because it walked away from God and Christianity. The result of that was the two world wars of the twentieth century. Later, Europe started to be rebuilt by Christian politicians (such A. De Gasperi or Robert Schuman). Now, Europe is in crisis, because of secularisation, the privatisation of religion, and moral relativisation. Contemporary Europe has started to behave as Europe before war—it has started to walk away from God. Clergymen in the mainstream of the Church in Poland have stated that if Europe wants to be strong and healthy, it should return to its Christian roots and foundations. But what is important in this model is that this strong and rich Europe is located in the past, in the Middle Ages. We can say that typical for this image is an idealisation of Poland. Poland is imagined as a hero who can rescue de-Christianised Europe.

Apart this main image, we found two peripheral views of Europe inside the Church. The first, liberal and “affirmative” is typical mainly for clergymen from Tygodnik Powszechny. They claim that what we must recognise as European culture started to exist before the Middle Ages, from ancient times. European integration is presented as a therapy for Europe’s illness. What is relevant is that its illness has its roots not in secularisation, but in religious conflicts, fundamentalism, and wars.

The second peripheral image—fundamentalist and “total”—is typical for clergymen from Nasz Dziennik and some from Niedziela. They see Europe as a threat. In their view, European culture emerged as a result of the activity of the Devil and his demons, and that is why Europe is evil from its nature. For the advocates of this third view, the beginning of European culture must be dated from the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Contemporary Europe is under the influence of demonic politicians who want to destroy the Church and Christian Poland.