There are few topics in Poland as conflictive as the relationship between the State and the Catholic Church. Everyone, without exception, has an opinion on what these relationships look like or what they should look like. This is not surprising, because such mutual relations affect – directly and indirectly – one of the most important and intimate spheres of every person's life, i.e. the issue of their faith and worldview. It is therefore also not surprising, on the one hand to see the level of emotion surrounding the discussions regarding the desired shape of these relationships, and on the other hand, to see this issue being used in the current political struggle, focused precisely on the emotional involvement of potential voters.
Participants in disputes about the "proper" form of mutual relations between the Third Republic of Poland and the Catholic Church, especially when they focus only on a selected aspect of these relations, e.g. the question of the admissibility of religious teaching in schools, usually miss – intentionally or not – the fundamental issue of the multi-aspect nature and complexity of these relations, both in legal terms and in the everyday practice of the functioning of this religious community in the state and in relation to the Polish State.
Indeed, the relationship between the State and the Church in the constitutional order of the Third Republic resembles a spider's web, at the centre of which there are the fundamental principles set out by the certain regulations of the Constitution. They are the focal point from which individual fibres, such as relations on the financial level, relations between representatives of the secular and ecclesiastical authorities, the possibilites of the Church’s activities in the field of economic transactions, or the rights of the faithful under the guarantee of respect for freedom of conscience and religion, emerge. These threads, although diverging in different directions, remain closely connected by a spiral of interconnections both of a legal nature and of a broader historical, cultural or social nature.
Such a unique relationship can be seen, for example, in the teaching of religion in public schools. The axis of social division, used by politicians of all sorts in election campaigns, is quite simple – "There should be religion lessons in school" versus "There cannot be religion lessons in school." Meanwhile, the issue is far more complex, as only in the case of this aspect of mutual relations, a number of issues from various areas of law are closely intertwined.
First of all, there is no obligation to teach religion in schools, but, following from the content of Article 53(4) of the Constitution, there is the possibility to teach this subject in schools. In the doctrine of constitutional and confessional law, it is not regarded as a privilege of religious communities, but a natural consequence of the right – also resulting from the content of the Constitution – of parents to bring up their children according to their own religious beliefs. In the case of the Catholic Church, the presence of religion in schools is further guaranteed by Article 12(1) of the Concordat, an international agreement concluded between the Third Republic of Poland and the Holy See. Detailed issues concerning the requirements to be met in order for religion lessons of a given religious association (including the Catholic Church) to be conducted in school establishments, including, among other things, the minimum number of participants in such lessons, are in turn specified in the relevant regulation of the Minister of National Education.
Therefore, the reality in this case is not black and white and radical messages or slogans thrown by representatives of political parties, such as the promise to "completely remove religion from schools", to put it mildly, mislead the recipients. Indeed, on the basis of the overall Polish legal regulations, it is not possible either to make religious instruction compulsory in Polish schools or to prohibit it altogether.
Of course, it is also not the case that the current shape of the relationship between State and Church cannot be changed.
However, such an action is similar to walking on a very delicate, but tightly tangled spider's web – due to the strong connection of various threads, each subsequent step taken on a single fibre causes vibrations in other parts of the web. In the case of religious instruction in public schools, this is as much a question of legal consequences as it is of actual consequences, such as changing the number of lessons, their place in the timetable or the rules for grading and including them in the certificate. These matters, in turn, remain closely linked to issues such as the employment of catechists or the provision of care for pupils who do not attend religious lessons.
Covering the salaries of religion teachers, on the other hand, is a single thread in the whole weave of various issues that make up the issue of financing the activities of the Catholic Church from public funds. This aspect of the relationship is probably the most delicate and most problematic element of the entire structure, which requires the most urgent improvement, as evidenced by the direction of action of the current Council of Ministers. And it is this very fibre that for many years has been the most frequently tugged, stretched and strained element of the spider web by both state and church officials, which has had a major impact on the deformation and actual weakening of the web of mutual relations of these communities.
Sorting out such tangled and frayed yarn will not be the easiest task. A thoughtful, comprehensive revision of this aspect of the relationship, in line with the constitutional principles remaining at the centre of the spider web, will translate not only into a strengthening of the single thread but also an improvement in the comfort of those in whose service the state and the Church should act. Nevertheless, a well-thought-out, comprehensive amendment of this aspect of the relations, consistent with the constitutional principles remaining at the centre of the web, will translate not only into the strengthening of a single thread, but of the relationship as a whole, and consequently improvement of the comfort of functioning of those in whose service the state and the Church should act.
Text: Dr Jakub Stępień
Photo: Daniel Maliński (Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Lodz)