Stanisław Gądecki “understands” the hunger strikes of Kamiński and Wąsik. “The archbishop is doing harm to the Church”

The case of legally convicted former MPs Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik was also brought before the church court. Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, chairman of the Polish Episcopal Conference, sent a letter to inmates Kamiński and Wąsik, and the statements contained in it do not deviate far from this political narrative. “I fully understand the reasons for undertaking such a dramatic form of protest. The hunger protest is a form of expressing opposition to the actions of the authorities, perceived by you as radically unjust, and as a potentially effective means of drawing the attention of people who follow their conscience in life,” reads a fragment of the letter. – In its pure form, we are dealing with Kali’s morality. They found their own people and apparently these people are treated in a special way – emphasizes Professor Przemysław Rotengruber, a philosopher and ethicist from the Adam Mickiewicz University.

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The wives of convicted politicians sent a request for intervention to the archbishop, and the hierarch declared his readiness to intervene at government levels. – If they accept it, I undertake to undertake a humanitarian intervention in their case with the Minister of Justice – reports Father Leszek Gęsiak, spokesman for the Polish Episcopal Conference. – Red lights are flashing here. Because I wonder what that means. Have both prisoners been placed in prisons where their human rights are violated? Are they living in inhumane conditions? – asks Father Paweł Gużyński, a Dominican.

What is fully understandable to Archbishop Gądecki is deeply misunderstood among Church representatives. – They deserve compassion like any other person, care for their health, but no harm comes to them. The archbishop is doing harm to the Church in Poland, exposing the Church to the fact that it is biased towards the losing political party. In my opinion, this is one of the most scandalous statements by a Church hierarch in recent years – warns Father Alfred Wierzbicki, an ethicist and theologian.

When the Church becomes involved in purely political matters again, it is subject to political criticism. – First of all, I am really outraged that the Episcopate today deals with perpetrators, not victims. There are many victims of Mr. Wąsik and Kamiński’s crimes in Poland, notes Cezary Tomczyk, deputy minister of national defense from the Civic Coalition. – I see that the bishops probably still haven’t noticed that the government has changed, that you no longer go to ministers for tea, you don’t go to ministers for dinner in order to negotiate some matters – says Krzysztof Śmiszek from KKP Lewica.

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The archbishop’s letter becomes an argument for Law and Justice politicians to repeat this untrue thesis that allegedly Kamiński and Wąsik are “political prisoners”. – You, the archbishop, have the right to write a letter. Why shouldn’t he write? The church is the same institution as many others, says Michał Wójcik, MP from Sovereign Poland.

The archbishop’s statement on this matter is reminiscent of the Church’s silence on other matters. – Motivation. She’s crazy political. This simply brings discredit to the office of the chairman and the office of the archbishop, metropolitan of Poznań. It simply brings discredit to the Church, says Artur Sporniak from “Tygodnik Powszechny”. “The lives of each of you have value for our common homeland and can contribute to making it more just” – this is how the archbishop ends his letter to the legally convicted politicians.