Polish police chief removes crosses

Police in Radom are up in arms against their new boss Karol Szwalbe who ordered crosses to be removed from local police stations and tried to talk policemen out of taking part in their annual pilgirmage to Częstochowa. Szwalbe, who has been the police chief for only a few weeks, has been reported to his Interior Ministry superiors for his brazen assault on Poland's time-honoured Catholic heritage.

Crosses are displayed in the Sejm and Senate, Polish council offices, schools, hospitals and other public institutons as well as many private businesses.

from: wpolityce.pl

Why renegade? He was in PiS first and then joined Palikot?

Anyone who joins Palikot is not only a renegade but should have his head examined. The errant police chief should be exiled to live out his days in the godless spiritual vacuum of a Belgium or UK.

This is okay, this is how it works everywhere else (in other secular states).


This is not okay tho, not his business.

As in Elbląg where PIS happily cooperated with RP?


Still to coward to attack me personally?


There should be no crosses in any public place. If you want to see them, go to a church. Poland is a secular country.

Tell that to the Radom police and you'll be handcuffed and frisked at best. If you mouth off, they'll throw you in the slammer. Other Fearsome Foursome members can bring you a cake with a file inside.

Do you support this? Is Poland (or Radom county) some dictatorship?
Anyway, not sure they would do that. They would be wrong if they did.

Only in theory. Practice is different and that guy should respect it. If crosses hang in Polish Parliament, why can`t they also hang in the police station???? He is sort of inconsequent and is going to pay for causing ferment..

I'm sure you detected the tongue in cheek!? But the PC dictatorship actually uses police methods against people with dissenting views. Despite a long traditon of street preachers in London, police recently bundled off a Christian preacher saying homosexual practices were sinful.

A woman called the police, she had a problem with it, not society.
Plus, the guy was released.
But I agree, tolerance works both ways.

or possibly the USA..:):)

Please stop posting links in a language that you're not supposed to.

Also, Police Chief in Radom=Hero

The police should be objective and completely non-influenced but religion/politics etc.
Good on you Mr. Policeman.


It shouldn't, it's that simple.

Yes, but this is real life... Anybody who overlooks it, is sort of clueless. Just take it or leave it rule, simple. :):):)

Fewer than one in four Poles are practising Catholics.


Without any approval for them to be there.


No, the constitution of Poland says that Poland is a secular country.


A thread about a Radom police officer and you decide to bang on about homosexuals; how many times per hour do you think about men having sex with each other?


Most certainly not if all other faiths are not treated equally.

Some advice for those who want to live in a mythical non-existent Polish secularist land of make-believe: Look away when you pass a church and go make a tea when the pilgrimage is shown on TV. When you can't help but see a packed church, pretend you are viewing an ex-church in the West turned into a Tesco or pub. Go to work as usual on Jan 6, Corpus Christi, Aug. 15 and Nov. 1, because they've got no business turning Church feastdays into official public holidays. Be sure to eat a Big Mac for Wigilia. Never go to a school or hospital because you might see a cross hanging there. And never call the pogotowie because there might be a red cross on the ambulance. And, above all, never go to America, because every banknote is inscribed with the motto: In God we trust!

Poland is a secular country and will remain one no matter how many times you lie about that.


In a Catholic country one wouldn't be able to do that, because McDonalds would be closed; in Poland one can do that.


Isn't it time you went home? You clearly aren't happy living in secular Poland, perhaps you'd be happier in your own country.

Yes, keep those horse-blinkers fastened so you don't get a glimpse of a church steeple or wayside shrine...


I'm not. I'm living in Catholic Poland. Poloinia semper fidelis. Bóg - Hoinor - Ojczyzna.
Like Mickiewicz* wisely said: Only under cross can Poland be Poland and a Pole a Pole.

*Adam Mickiewicz - 19th-century Romantic bard and freedom-fighter.

Have you actually read the Polish Constitution?


Except Poland isn't Catholic, Poland, as guaranteed by the Constitution, is a secular country.

Then again, I imagine the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution has never been important to you, has it?

I do find it strange that an American (who doesn't even have Polish citizenship) feels fit to tell Poles what their country is and isn't.

i will think about your foolish comments when i next pass through the 'district of four denominations, wroclaw' or pass the greek orthodox church on ostrow tumski. come to think of it, kingdom hall is not too far away either.

When we drive around I am regularly struck by the thought that a huge amount of money has been sunk into the God Bunkers. The modern churches are - can only be - the work of an organisation with too much money and power.

There should be no place for religion in politics, schools, policing. All religions claim supremacy, so how can one religion be allowed to claim a supremacy in government and education? And priests and nuns should be kept away from children

Tell it to believers in Poland. :):):)
Why not let Poles live as they wish and believe what they want? Is it a problem for you? Take it or leave it, simple. Next time you can drive through Czech Republic and Slovakia. :):):)

The problem is that only a minority of Poles actually use such facilities.

They also remind many of us that the Church is a considerably wealthy organisation that prefers to spend money on palaces and grand residences rather than on people who need it most.

I suppose you see it in a rather superficial way. Minority which is still majority. :):) Have you seen a single church in Poland turned into a supermarket or club?

No, you haven`t. I wonder why??? :):):)

Because the Catholic Church earns a massive amount from the State every year? ;)

'Earns'?!

"Steals" might be a better word.

Next question: Why????


Guys, spare yourselves those nasty comments which actually show how biased you are. :):) You accuse Polo of extremism but you are the same, only located on the opposite end. It would be funny if you didn`t see it. :):):)

A truthful answer : because the Catholic Church is in a position that makes it very very difficult to cut their funding or do anything to hurt their existence.


Ah, come on, it was a flippant comment ;)

I used the word "earns" on purpose - for instance, for teaching religion classes in schools. Quite why parents can't pay directly is beyond me...

Is there any statement such as 'separation of Church and state'? Is there any statement declaring 'Polska jest państwem laickim'? Instead the terms autonomy, independnece appear and cooperation appear: 'The relationship between the State and churches and other religious organisations shall be based on the principle of respect for their autonomy and the mutual independence of each in its own sphere, as well as on the principle of cooperation for the individual and the common good.... The relations between the Republic of Poland and the Roman Catholic Church shall be determined by international treaty concluded with the Holy See, and by statute.'

That's a far cry from mailicious laïcité, although Kwaśniewski and his commie cronies wanted to force through something resembling the hostile Soviet or French model of excluding and isolating the Church.

I see you are evasive. :):):)

Next question then, which should be final one: Why is the Catholic Church in such position in Poland?