Polish archbishop decries conflict over public display of cross

August 12, 2010

Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw has warned partisan Polish activists not to make the cross a symbol of political conflict.

At an August 12 press conference, the archbishop said that a cross that was erected outside the presidential palace, in tribute to the late President Lech Kaczynski, should be moved to a nearby Catholic church. The archbishop’s statement put him in alliance with incoming President Bronislaw Komorowski, who had incurred the wrath of conservative activists by making the same proposal last week. “The issue got out of control during the presidential election campaign and both defenders and opponents of the cross have been used for political purposes,” charged Archbishop Nycz. “The cross cannot be held hostage to a political dispute.”

 

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Further information:

• Warsaw Archbishop – don’t play politics with the cross (Polskie Radio)
• Poland: scuffle over cross outside government building (CWN, 8/4)