The Association of German Social-Cultural Societies in Poland has criticised the words of Bishop Wiesław Mering spoken at Jasna Góra and filed a complaint against him with the Vatican. In its statement, the association pretends not to understand the reasons behind the clergyman’s critical remarks directed at Berlin.
They Pretend Not to Understand Why He Criticises Berlin
The Association of German Social-Cultural Societies in Poland (ZNSSK) wrote in its statement that “with great sadness and indignation, we received the words of Bishop Wiesław Mering.” The authors emphasised that they are Germans who have lived for generations in Silesia, Masuria, and Pomerania, as well as “people of the Church and loyal citizens of the Republic of Poland.”
They stated that they build “bridges of understanding between nations” and referred to the historic 1965 pastoral letter of the Polish bishops, which contained the famous words: “We forgive and ask for forgiveness.” According to the ZNSSK, the message conveyed by Bishop Mering “evokes a sense of fear and anxiety.”
In the association’s view, the bishop is spreading “words of hatred on national grounds.”
The ZNSSK appealed to the Polish Episcopate to respond and sent its position to the Vatican, the apostolic nuncios in Poland and Germany, as well as to the diocesan bishops across Poland.
What exactly did Bishop Mering say that was so alarming?
He told the truth, and it was precisely this truth, spoken by a clergyman to the gathered faithful at Jasna Góra, that caused offence both in Berlin and among Germans living in Poland.
“Our country’s borders are under threat, both from the west and the east, and yet one politician says: ‘The defence of the borders brings more harm than the migrants about whom we know nothing,’” the bishop pointed out. He added that in his home region of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, two murders, of a young woman and a man, had recently occurred.
“We are governed by people who describe themselves as Germans. In the 18th century, one Polish poet, Wacław Potocki, said: ‘As long as the world exists, a German will never be a brother to a Pole.’ History has terribly proven the truth of this saying,”
said Bishop Mering to applause.
Bishop Mering also quoted the fourth verse of the national anthem: “Neither German nor Russian shall ever rest, once the sabre is drawn, the rallying cry shall be unity and our homeland.”
“We don’t sing this verse, yet it expresses the sum of our historical experiences. Today, we must defend Poland, our homeland, our culture, and our traditions, with awareness and great courage. Because the schools, unfortunately, are no longer doing this. They’re being destroyed by the barbarism that removes patriotic and national content from textbooks and the education of our children, even accusing, through the words of a minister, the Polish people of building the Auschwitz concentration camp,”
the bishop emphasised.
He pointed out that in the past, love of homeland was taught by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and Saint John Paul II. He called for this love to now be taught independently and passed on to young Poles.
“Once again, as in the communist times, we must learn patriotism, truth, history, and tradition at home, from our parents, because today, Poland is governed by political gangsters. You may be surprised by such a strong term, but I only quoted Prime Minister Donald Tusk, because that’s what he said (…) recently,”
the bishop noted.