Documents for your files

Home

PROGRESSIVIST DOCUMENT OF THE WEEK


Card. Glemp in 1987: Communism Will Continue
Indefinitely in Poland

In an interview granted to the Italian magazine Il Regno (September 15, 1987) Cardinal Josef Glemp, Primate of Poland, spoke on the relations between the Church and the Communist State. He had the public endorsement of John Paul II. In the interview, Glemp enunciated general principles followed by the Church that would later inspire the establishment of official diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Communist regime.

Contrary to the myth that at that time the Church was against Communism in Poland, this interview reveals a very submissive Church willing to accept the principles of Communism in order to survive.

At right is the front page of Il Regno with the first part of the interview. Under it, the Italian text continues. Below, we present our translation of the lines highlighted in yellow.
Question - At the end of his third trip to Poland (June 8-14), the Pontiff met with the Bishops [telling them] to start meetings to establish diplomatic recognition between the Polish State and the Holy See. Are you surprised?

Answer - For us, there was nothing new in this .... The Holy Father publicly confirmed the policy that he had already shared with us ....

Question - Apart from the question of diplomatic recognition, could you explain in general the relations between Church and State?

Answer - As a country, Poland belongs to the Western and European cultural tradition .... But it is necessary to take into consideration that we are in a Socialist country. In it lives a strong Church that has never known, within this political context, an initiative of this type and importance.

Ours is a large Church as a sociological presence. If we want to deal with the situation seriously, then we should face as a honest presupposition that the Socialist State will last. In a certain way, we accept this State, with its particular structure. Certainly it is different from Capitalism. We know the injustices in it and we always keep these in view. But we also know that we cannot get out of these circumstances and that this state of things will continue. What we want, therefore, is to organize things in a better way for the nation, society, and the Church.

We must take into consideration the irrevocable principles of a Socialist State: collectivism, state property, a single party, and binding international alliances. This is the particular context in which we must have our discussions. It is a State with a specific ideology.

For 40 years we have fought to have the right to believe and be a Church. Today we can consider that religion, faith, and the Church have a recognized, indisputable position. The State recognizes her, notwithstanding all its ideological reservations. This forms the basis for the negotiations.


(Josef Glemp, interview granted to Lorenzo Prezzi titled, "No, non sara un Concordato" in Il Regno, September 15, 1987, pp. 409-410)
A_064_GlempCommunism03.jpg - 59915 Bytes

A_064_GlempCommunism04.jpg - 122334 Bytes
Share

Blason de Charlemagne
Follow us



Posted on September 9, 2006


burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes


Related Topics of Interest


burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   JPII Endorsing the Communist Revolution in Nicaragua

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   In Cuba John Paul II Says Mass Facing a Billboard of Che Guevara

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Paul VI Receives Podgorny, Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Communist Dictator Tito is Cordially Received at the Vatican by Paul VI

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Wojtyla's Book Borrows Concepts from Marxism

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Pius XII on Communism and Fatima

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Read the Declaration of Resistance to the Vatican Ostpolitik


burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes

Related Works of Interest


A_Offend1.gif - 23346 Bytes
Animus Injuriandi II
A_ad1.gif - 32802 Bytes
A_ad2.gif - 31352 Bytes
A_ff.gif - 33047 Bytes
Destructio Dei
A_hp.gif - 30629 Bytes
A_ecclesia.gif - 33192 Bytes


Documents  |  Home  |  Books  |  CDs  |  Search  |  Contact Us  |  Donate

Tradition in Action
© 2002-   Tradition in Action, Inc.    All Rights Reserved