Today in Kielno in Pomerania, a demonstration was held against the conduct of one of the teachers at the local school, who first demanded that a cross be removed from a classroom and, when students protested, threw the cross into a trash bin. The mother of one of the students, visibly moved, pointed out during the demonstration that the students who defended the cross fulfilled the school’s motto in Kielno – the words of St. John Paul II about one’s “own Westerplatte”.
“Young heroes remind us, adults, that one must not desert a just cause – especially the defense of the cross,”she said.
A few days ago, information circulated in the media that the incident was to have taken place on December 15, 2025. An English teacher allegedly demanded that students remove the cross from the classroom. When the students refused, she took the cross down herself and threw it into a trash bin.
The matter prompted a response from the school principal, who announced “actions aimed at clarifying the circumstances surrounding this event.”
The commune head of Szemud – Ryszard Kalkowski – reported that he had filed a notification with the District Prosecutor’s Office in Wejherowo. He added that the school principal had suspended the teacher from her duties until the matter is clarified. The case has shaken the local community.
On January 6, the celebrations of the Epiphany were a special occasion for the residents of Kielno to manifest their Catholic faith.
“Many people have declared THEY WILL BRING THEIR HOME CROSSES with them to express love for Jesus Christ and the values symbolized by the CROSS! – This is a concrete response to the desecration of this sign that took place at the school in Kielno”, the Parish of St. Adalbert in Kielno informed.
On Thursday morning, a peaceful demonstration of opposition to the teacher’s conduct began outside the local school. Alongside residents, representatives of Kluby Gazety Polskiej from Rumia and Wejherowo appeared, as well as members of the Border Defense Movement with Robert Bąkiewicz and Jacek Wrona, and politicians from the current parliamentary opposition, including Law and Justice (PiS) and the Confederation of the Polish Crown.
The demonstrators carried banners reading destroying the cross is a lack of tolerance; do not be afraid; Poland has a choice: either the cross or the crescent; the cross – the foundation of our faith
The mother of one of the students, visibly moved, pointed out during the demonstration that the students who defended the cross fulfilled the school’s motto in Kielno – the words of St. John Paul II about one’s “own Westerplatte”.
“For the students of this school, Westerplatte is the cross for which they bravely fought. Young heroes teach us, adults, that one must not desert in a just cause, such as the defense of the cross”, the woman said.
The Law and Justice (PiS) MP Dorota Arciszewska-Mielewczyk indicated that today’s action was not “engaging in politics.”
“We came with a certain baggage of values; we are not ashamed to defend at every step the values we profess. The cross is our sign. We are Christians, Catholics, we go to church, baptize our children, receive Communion, and we will not allow the symbol of our faith, our cultural heritage, our national heritage to be desecrated”, Arciszewska-Mielewczyk said.
“There is no place here for breaking the law to destroy the symbols of our culture, our faith, our love of God. Today we are demonstrating unity with parents who had the courage, with the parents of children who had even greater courage – to say ‘no’ to a teacher who should be an authority and teach respect for every religion”, she added.
The demonstrators then went to the office of the school principal in Kielno.
Żurek’s ministry wants to soften penalties for insulting religious feelings
Representatives of the government also addressed the matter of the teacher’s conduct at the school in Kielno.
Minister of Education Barbara Nowacka, asked about the case from Kielno, informed that disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against the teacher. In an interview with TVN24, she assessed the conduct as “inadmissible by any social norm.” “This is a mistake that should not take place in a school. […] Regardless of whether we believe, we know that the cross is an important symbol. The feelings of both the majority and the minority must be respected”, Nowacka said.
The Minister of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, asked about the incident at the school, stated that he was not familiar with the case. The head of the Ministry of Justice was questioned in the context of a draft amendment to the Penal Code being prepared by his ministry. It provides for removing imprisonment from the catalogue of penalties for the offense of insulting religious feelings.
He assessed, however, that “if this woman is convicted, she does not have to receive a custodial sentence, but she will be recorded in the register, she will pay a fine, and she will no longer find employment in many public institutions, if such a situation indeed occurred.”