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Post by jeanne on Apr 9, 2009 2:01:18 GMT 1
This is ironic as living one's life as a Catholic means, in the broad sense, the pursuit of love...the love of God and the love of neighbor. Love for god is results in hardships and sakrifays. For neigbor also. Life is hard for everyone, all suffer some sort of hardship. The way I look at it is you can either do life the easy way, with God, or the hard way, without Him. Either way, the hard times will come and your response to those hard times depends on your relationship with God. This is a pipe dream...stars lives are the most messed-up of all...very few are happy. Perhaps it is normal in young men. I think youth tends to think it is invincible, so what is the need for God? I think this often changes as time passes and they become more reflective on their lives. Questioning of beliefs that have been passed on by parents is a normal part of maturing. |
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Apr 9, 2009 4:47:17 GMT 1
When I see my frends, religion is not so popular. Not many thinks deep about it. I sometayms think that I not deep in religion also. May be this is normal in young men? Perhaps it is normal in young men. I think youth tends to think it is invincible, so what is the need for God? I think this often changes as time passes and they become more reflective on their lives. Questioning of beliefs that have been passed on by parents is a normal part of maturing. Becoming a parent is another reason many people decide to "make room" for religion in their lives again. They may initially be motivated to do it for their children's sake, but hopefully it is a positive experience for the parents as well. |
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Post by Bonobo on May 10, 2009 22:25:23 GMT 1
Polish lesson for Israel
Israel should follow Polish example when it comes to religion's place in public life
Amir Hetsroni
Opinion
ynetnews.com
5/4/09
Poland is one of the world's most religious states. About 50% of all poles attend church on Sunday – more than twice the number of Israelis who attend synagogue on Shabbat. Meanwhile, more than 80% of Poles define themselves as "believers," compared to only 50% in Israel.
Despite this, whoever wishes to travel on public transportation on Sundays in Poland can do it easily, and stores are also open as long as their owners are interested in opening them. Meanwhile, around here the buses and stores are paralyzed by law over the weekend as not to desecrate the Shabbat.
While Israelis who wish to eat hametz in Passover have to travel to a limited number of rebellious Tel Aviv restaurants who dare violate the law, a Pole who is interested in devouring a steak on the Friday before Easter, where Catholics are ordered to avoid meat, can order meat at almost any restaurant, even at the most conservative and religious towns.
The Poles very much like to hold wedding ceremonies at church, yet divorce is only done in line with secular laws at civil courts. Nonetheless, no archbishop warns that secular marriage laws will mark the Polish people's demise.
The most amazing thing in Poland perhaps, from an Israeli perspective, is that despite the fact that so many Poles frequent church, Polish priests, as opposed to our rabbis, do not expect the government to pay their salary or cover their expenses. The Poles internalized that religion is the private matter of the believer, and that believers need to pay the expenses of faith out of their own pocket.
Iran-style solutions
When the communist regime collapsed at the end of the 1980s, Poland could have turned into a religious state of the type our religious parties dream of. Fortunately for the Poles, the Catholic Church, as opposed to Jewish Orthodoxy, no longer attempts to force itself upon the public. It is difficult to think of a Polish priest, and even a particularly ambitious one, who would seriously attempt to establish a religious party such as Shas, United Torah Judaism, or Habayit Hayehudi, or legislate laws that would force religious customs on those who do not wish to adhere to them.
It is also difficult to imagine Polish clerics arguing that they should regularly take part in shaping their country's foreign and defense policy; we also won't find a Polish council of religious sages that would make pretenses to express its views on matters that are not wholly religious.
In the wake of Holocaust Remembrance Day, where we mentioned Poland mostly as the site of Nazi concentration camps, we would do well to remember that there are quite a few positive things to learn from this country, which faced a similar challenge to ours in respect to religion's place in public life, and did it successfully.
Unfortunately, instead of following the example of the modern Poland, we tend to adopt Iran-style and Saudi-style solutions.
Therefore, I will end with a secular and Polish tip to our religious politicians: Had you not attempted to force your way of life upon us, and had you not insisted that synagogues, mikvahs, and your religious councils would be funded by our tax money, perhaps we would show greater appreciation to the unique cultural contribution of the Jewish faith to our lives – just like the less religious among the Poles usually appreciate the Catholic Church's cultural contribution to their lives.
Dr. Amir Hetsroni is a senior communication lecturer at the Ariel University Center of Samaria
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Post by Bonobo on May 19, 2009 21:53:18 GMT 1
Polish priest publishes sex guide
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8049853.stm
A woman holds up a copy of Sex as you don't know it
A Polish Catholic priest has published a book which provides married couples with a theological and practical guide to spicing up their sex lives.
In his book, Sex as you don't know it: for married couples who love God, Father Ksawery Knotz aims to sweep away the strait-laced attitudes many hold.
Sex in marriage, the Franciscan friar explains, should not be boring but "saucy, surprising and fantasy packed".
The book, which has the backing of the Polish Catholic Church, has been a hit.
The Sw. Pawel publishing house has ordered a reprint after Poles snapped up the first 5,000 copies within weeks of them going on sale.
'Sought-after caresses'
In the book that has been dubbed the "Catholic Kama Sutra", Father Knotz goes into graphic detail about a subject many in the Church consider taboo.
"Some people, when they hear about the holiness of married sex, immediately imagine that such sex has to be deprived of joy, frivolous play, fantasy and attractive positions," he writes.
"[They think] it has to be sad like a traditional church hymn.
"Every act - a type of caress, a sexual position - with the goal of arousal is permitted and pleases God. During sexual intercourse, married couples can show their love in every way, can offer one another the most sought-after caresses."
Father Knotz believes sex is an important way for a husband and wife to express their love and grow closer to God.
"Married couples celebrate their sacrament, their life with Christ also during sex," he writes.
"Calling sex a celebration of the marriage sacrament raises its dignity in an exceptional way. Such a statement shocks people who learned to look at sexuality in a bad way. It is difficult for them to understand that God is also interested in their happy sex life and in this way gives them his gift."
But Father Knotz stresses the book does not differ from the Church's view on sex. He discourages the use of contraceptives, saying they "lead a married couple outside of Catholic culture and into a completely different lifestyle".
He also dismisses those that have questioned the competency of a celibate monk to write about sex, saying his experience comes from counselling married couples and from running a website giving sexual advice for almost a year.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 16, 2009 21:15:19 GMT 1
Poland Catholics oppose Madonna's concert
June 10, 2009
WARSAW, Poland, June 10 (UPI) -- Catholics are urging the Polish government and organizers to cancel U.S. pop star Madonna's concert scheduled for Aug. 15, the Assumption of Mary feast.
Marian Brudzynski, member of the Mazowiecki regional assembly, Wednesday said Madonna "cannot sing" on the religious feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary and announced a protest committee is being organized to stop the concert.
Brudzynski, a former member of the conservative League of Polish Families party, said Catholics will do all in their power to prevent the concert from taking place. The protest committee plans to ask Interior Minister Grzegorz Schetyna to cancel the concert, he said.
Brudzynski said if they fail to stop Madonna's concert they will stage a massive picket outside and added, "We want to stifle Madonna," Poland's thenews.pl Web site reported.
Krzysztof Zagozda, of the Catholic Society organization, said the concert would hurt Poles' religious sentiment as Madonna's performances are anti-Christian.
Stanislaw Malkowski, former Warsaw Solidarity union's chaplain, said the Catholic church and the Polish nation should protest loudly against the Madonna concert.
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Kaczynski: Europe Is Anti-Catholic
Jakub Medek
2009-06-01
'If Europe is to be strong, it has to be Christian,' the PiS leader said at an election rally in Bia³ystok. A day earlier, he struck up an alliance with the British Tories and the Czech conservatives.
As the European Parliament campaign draws slowly to a close, the PiS has started talking about the Europe it wants.
'Europe needs new initiatives, Europe needs fresh air,' leader Jaros³aw Kaczyñski stressed Saturday, presenting his party as that of 'conservatives who want reforms.'
Besides Mr Kaczyñski, the speakers at a rally at Warsaw's Palladium cinema included ex-Czech prime minister and leader of the centre-right ODS party Miroslav Topolanek (whom moderator Micha³ Kamiñski welcomed in Czech), and David Cameron, leader of Britain's Conservative Party, tipped by many as a future British prime minister.
The three politicians announced that following the 7 June elections they would form a new group in the European Parliament. According PiS spokesperson Adam Bielan, it is to be the assembly's third or four largest group, after the Christian democrats and the socialists and on a par with the liberals.
'We have made a great step towards a better Europe today,' Mr Kaczyñski said.
'European institutions should be effective, economical, and aid cooperation between member states. They should never interfere with individual rights or the free market,' stressed the PiS leader. He added the new parliamentary group would fight red tape and excessive regulation.
Mr Topolanek said that there were differences between the ODS, the PiS and the Tories, but that they shared a common vision of European integration and the slogan 'More freedom, more realism.'
'The Lisbon Treaty is dead,' said the ex-Czech prime minister.
Mr Cameron said that a 'strong centre-right group will emerge in the European Parliament, forming an alternative to federalist views.'
'Such is our vision towards an open, modern and flexible EU. European nations expect nation states from the EU, not a United States of Europe,' he added.
'It is only on the basis of common sense that we can have good institutions that work well, serving the people. I believe that all our parties here represent a common-sensical approach,' Mr Kaczyñski said Saturday.
Not a word was said about the Civic Platform and Germans challenging Poland's borders. On Sunday, the theme returned.
'The gentlemen at the PO obviously like to stand at attention and shout "Yes, Sir!" not to say it in another language,' Mr Kaczyñski said at a rally in Bia³ystok.
'The elections will determine whether Poland is represented by people suffering from a national inferiority complex, or by proud and brave Poles who have the courage to demand the rights our nation is entitled to. If Europe is to be strong, it has to be Christian. And today it is anti-Christian, and especially anti-Catholic, ' the PiS leader said.
Germans were mentioned too: 'I've visited a 70-hectare dairy farm. It is run by good Polish farmers. They receive 35,000 zlotys in direct subsidies per year. A German farm of the same size receives 100,000 zlotys.'
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 1, 2009 19:41:50 GMT 1
Mon, 29 Jun 2009
Polish engineer's refusal to convert costs him his life
Islamabad - Piotr Stanczak did not exhibit the slightest hint of hesitation when the Pakistani Taliban asked him to choose between execution and conversion to Islam. Whether the Polish geologist acted out of pride or religious conviction, he decided to pay through his blood to save his faith, a choice that bewildered his killers and keep them talking about him with respect after his murder.
Stanczak, 42, was kidnapped September 28 on his way to survey for oil exploration in Attock district, of Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. The kidnappers also killed his driver and two guards.
Militants released a gruesome seven-minute video in early February showing his beheading. One of the murderers blamed the Pakistani government which failed to accept their demands for the release of detained militants.
Warsaw reacted angrily, slammed Islamabad's "apathy" in tackling terrorism and offering a 1-million-zloty (300,000-dollar) reward for information leading to the capture of the Taliban militants who beheaded Stanczak.
Among the militants whose release was sought by the Taliban was Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-Pakistani who was sentenced to death for the 2002 abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.
When negotiations between the representatives of the Pakistani government and the hostage-takers failed, the Taliban leadership gave the Polish man a last chance to save himself, Stanczak's captors revealed to another hostage, a Pakistani man Mohammad Amir.
An update to this story, from the Gulf Times in Qatar:
Piotr Stanczak did not exhibit the slightest hint of hesitation when the Pakistani Taliban asked him to choose between execution and conversion to Islam.
Whether the Polish geologist acted out of pride or religious conviction, he decided to pay through his blood to save his faith, a choice that bewildered his killers and keep them talking about him with respect after his murder.
[...]
“Our people were keeping an eye on his movements for several months. We were expecting that we could exchange some of our mujahideen in the government’s custody for him,” Amir quoted a guard as saying.
“Piotr never showed any sign of nervousness or fear. He would finish the food we gave him and sleep well. We all admired his courage. It was not an easy decision even for our commander to kill Piotr,” the guard, who identified himself as Abdullah, told Amir. “That’s why he gave him a last chance,”
“But he was very stubborn and refused our goodwill gesture to save his life,” Abdullah was cited as saying by Amir.
“Piotr said first we should release him. He will go back to his country, consult his family and read about Islam and only then deicide [that is one hell of a sic] about converting to Islam.”
This surprised everyone but we had to kill him because principles are principles - we gave him a chance and he lost it, the guard told Amir. “But undoubtedly he was a brave man.”
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 3, 2009 16:29:15 GMT 1
Why not?
Polish Muslims call for change in law to recognise Islamic weddings
DPA
6/17/09
Warsaw - Polish Muslims want to change a 1936 law that requires them to pray for Poland and the country's president, Polish Radio reported Wednesday. The Muslim community also want days off for Islamic religious holidays, in the predominantly Catholic country, and to recognise weddings in mosques.
The current law requires all Polish Muslims to mention the Republic of Poland and the president during Friday prayers, and regulates relations between the state and the Muslim Religious Association.
"A Muslim religious wedding still doesn't have civil effects," said Pawel Borecki, of the Religious Law faculty at the University of Warsaw. "Followers of Islam also still do not have a guaranteed right to celebrate their holidays."
Poland's Foreign Ministry is currently working with Polish Muslims on a draft bill that will abolish the required prayer for Poland and change the legal status of the country's Muslims.
The new law would allow Muslims to take days off for religious holidays and would make a marriage in a mosque equal to a civil marriage, reported the broadcaster TVP Info.
Settlements of Poland's first Muslims date back to the 14th century, when Tatars made their home in the Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth and practiced Islam freely in exchange for military service.
Today most estimate there are some 30,000 Muslims in Poland including some 2,000 Tatars. Muslims make up less than 0.1 per cent of the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 12, 2009 20:19:20 GMT 1
Polish MPs legislate for Christian values in media
National Secular Society
7/10/09
In a move that Mrs Mary Whitehouse could only dream about, Polish Parliamentarians have passed a media law obliging state-funded radio and TV channels to "uphold the Christian system of values". Left-wing MPs said the provision violated previous agreements and they vowed to overturn it.
Under the law, passed 272 votes to 131 in the Sejm, Poland's lower house, programmes will be required to reflect Christian values, as well as to "strengthen the family, promote pro-health attitudes and oppose social pathologies and all discrimination. "
A prominent supporter, Jaroslaw Sellin, said the measure was needed to "maintain social equilibrium" in Poland, where 95 per cent of the 38 million inhabitants have been baptised as Catholic.
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 23, 2009 21:47:55 GMT 1
Madonna's Sticky and Sweet tour in Poland alienates worshippers and Lech Walesa
Roger Boyes
timesonline. co.uk
8/5/09
Madonna on the Sticky & Sweet tour
The Madonna concert is to be staged on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption
Madonna, who was brought up as a good Catholic girl, is taking her Sticky and Sweet tour to Poland, the heartland of European Catholicism — where the faithful, backed by the Solidarity founder Lech Walesa, have made it clear that they will not welcome the pop star.
"It's a Satanic provocation, " said Mr Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in establishing the first free trade union movement in the communist world.
The problem is one of timing. The Madonna concert, at an old Warsaw airfield, is to be staged on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, the day Roman Catholics believe that the Virgin Mary was taken to Heaven.
It is the climax of a season of pilgrimages; across the country hundreds of thousands of mainly young people have been sleeping rough in cornfields on their way to the Jasna Gora monastery in southern Poland which shelters a darkened icon of the Virgin Mary, known as the Black Madonna.
www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00320/mad_5360_320315b.jpg
The Virgin Mary is supposed to have saved Poland in two moments of peril: in 1655 against marauding Swedes and in 1920, when the Soviet Red Army cavalry tried to attack the country.
As a result, August 15 is also Armed Forces Day, a deeply patriotic as well as religious occasion.
"I am a man of faith and ask for such events not to happen on such an important feast in my religion," said Mr Walesa, who wore an emblem of the Madonna when fighting against the Communists.
Prayers are being said in the centre of Warsaw every afternoon, calling on God to stop the singer in her tracks; open-air masses are planned to mobilise support; priests will thunder from pulpits this Sunday. The 70,000 fans are to have a solid phalanx of loudly praying Catholics pitted against them when she takes to the stage.
"This is an attack by the devil on our immaculate Catholic nation, "said Father Stanislaw Malkowski, one of the protest leaders. "This concert is a profanity and blasphemous. "
Some protestors even believe that the collapse of the stage on the French leg of the tour last month — killing two technicians including a British man and injuring eight — was an omen, a sign of divine displeasure.
The thrust of the campaign is to ensure that Madonna of Bay City Michigan and Notting Hill( twice divorced, mother of Lourdes) is not confused with the Madonna of Czestechowa( Virgin, mother of Jesus Christ) and thus lead young Poles up the wrong path.
In truth there does not seem much risk of that. Madonna Louise Ciccone (First Communion 1965) has built much of her career on upsetting the Catholic Church. The Like a Prayer music video featured burning crosses and a scene in which she kisses alive a Christ-like figure.
On her Confessions tour three years ago she appeared on stage strapped to a crucifix, wearing a crown of thorns. Various milestones in her career have included masturbating on stage in a golden Gaultier corset and merging sado-masochist imagery with a mockery of Catholic ritual.
A German prosecutor investigated whether she should be charged with deliberately offending religious communities (she wasn't); at least one Cardinal has called for her to be excommunicated, and her photo album "Sex" was banned in several countries.
The Polish protest groups too are considering taking legal action, although against the organisers rather than the singer herself.
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Post by valpomike on Aug 23, 2009 23:35:25 GMT 1
I was told the other day, by two Polish Priest, who were told by the Bishop to let go of the Polish ways, and take on the Mexican ways. Both Priest were very upset with this, but said, there is nothing they can do, he is the boss.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 24, 2009 13:42:07 GMT 1
Polish village prays for Madonna to visit
Fri Aug 14, 2009
WARSAW (Reuters) - Pop diva Madonna may have upset some Catholic Poles by timing her debut Polish concert to coincide with a big religious holiday on Saturday, but she is sure of a warm welcome if she visits the tiny village of Rumin.
In Rumin in central Poland, her fans plan to name a street after her and want to make her an honorary 'citizen'. If she does visit, the young girls of the village also intend to perform dances for her in the freshly harvested fields.
"Rumin is like Madonna, Rumin is top. Rumin is trendy, Rumin is fashion. That's the general idea and we want to underline that Rumin is very similar to Madonna. And we want Madonna to join Rumin by accepting honorary citizenship, " said Mariusz Ciszak, the main organizer of the campaign.
He has designed Madonna T-shirts and sweaters which some of the villagers are now wearing.
It was not clear on Friday whether Madonna had any plans to visit the village, about 230 km (143 miles) west of Warsaw, during her stay.
Madonna has upset some believers in devoutly Roman Catholic Poland by timing her Polish debut concert to coincide with the day when Christians mark the Virgin Mary's ascension to heaven.
Madonna has often annoyed conservative Christians, kissing an actor playing Jesus in one of her videos and staging a crucifixion scene in her last world tour.
As well as her Warsaw concert, the singer is also expected to pay a visit to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz in southern Poland where up to 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, perished during World War Two.
Madonna is a follower of the Kabbalah, a mystical strand of Judaism, though she is not Jewish and was raised as a Catholic.
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 30, 2009 21:04:35 GMT 1
Church-going youth declines
thenews.pl
13.08.2009
Over 90 percent of Poland's youth claim to be `believers' in the Catholic Church but only half of them attend church every Sunday or more often, according to a survey done by the pollsters CBOS.
Every week, 45 percent of church-goers are between the ages 18-24 years old. Four percent of Poland's youth attends mass more than once a week.
At the beginning of the 1990s, more young people in that age group attended church regularly – two-thirds.
Today, fourty percent of young people claim to attend church a few times a year whereas the figure several years ago was 20 percent.
Only twelve percent of Poland's youth do not admit to participating in any religious activities.
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Post by valpomike on Aug 30, 2009 21:47:35 GMT 1
I think this is a world wide problem. Todays youth don't know any better, not being raised to know the truth. Don't let this happen to your children.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 12, 2009 11:31:36 GMT 1
Small village of Parciak residents removed their priest from the office. When the priest started the Sunday service, they took hold of him and led him out of the church. Then they locked the doors and took the keys. They say they were forced to act so due to local Church`s passiveness. According to them, the priest abuses alcohol, is vulgar and aggressive, e.g., in fury he damaged someone`s car, refuses to give sacraments to the ill, dissolved the church choir, falls asleep during the service, neglects his duties to keep the church in shape. Allegedly he embezzled people`s money, too. www.tvn24.pl/-1,1623543,0,1,zamkneli-kosciol-przed-proboszczem,wiadomosc.html They say - it is a shame we had to do it, but it is local Church authorities` responsibility. A rare event in Poland but cases like that prove that people know how to defend their rights. After all, they are Poles and nobody, even a priest, shall mess with them. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D |
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 22, 2009 23:11:33 GMT 1
Poland needs better separation between church and state, critics say
Rafal Kiepuszewski
Deutsche Welle
10/18/09
Poland's anti-communist Solidarity revolution of the 1980's had close links to the Catholic church. But two decades since the collapse of communism, critics say it's time for the church to distance itself from politics.
Poland's newest mobile phone network, W Rodzinie, promotes itself as a family-friendly service. The brand's name means "all in the family." It's the country's first network to introduce a phone for seniors, with an extra large display and keys. According to the commercial, it's perfect for the granny who just can't cope with the complicated digital toys offered by the competition.
But there's more to the W Rodzinie network than meets the eye. It advertises on just one TV channel and one radio station - TV Trwam and Radio Maryja - both of which are owned by the controversial Roman Catholic priest Father Rydzyk. W Rodzinie is the latest addition to his growing media empire, which broadcasts a hardline message into millions of homes.
His audience is known as the "Family of Radio Maryja," and is mostly made up of those who feel left behind by Poland's fast-paced market reforms. They are a political force to be reckoned with. Grazyna, a teacher in her 50's, lives in Warsaw, but often visits her parents in a village in eastern Poland, where she says everyone listens to Radio Maryja.
Fundamentalists gaining influence
"People in the countryside are influenced by Father Rydzyk, because it's a station that's available everywhere," she said. "When you switch on the radio, it's the first station that you can find. He tells them what to do and they follow his instructions. There's not much logic in it, so I don't feel convinced by what they say."
Father Rydzyk recently provoked intense criticism when he made racist jokes at the expense of a baffled African priest who was invited to celebrate mass together with him. In spite of the uproar, he emerged unscathed. Catholic journalist Zbigniew Nosowski, editor of the Wiez monthly, said that, once again, the country's Roman Catholic bishops couldn't agree what to do with the troublesome priest.
"Groups that can be called Catholic fundamentalists have become stronger in recent years," said Nosowski. "They have become an important player in the public debate. Radio Maryja is a classic example. It's a big problem for the Polish church to have such a large, organized group within itself. The church in Poland is lacking a vision. Poles got used to the fact that we had strong figures like John Paul II, but now we don't have such strong personalities. "
But the problem isn't just on the side of the church. Since the fall of communism, Polish politicians have often been accused of forging a tightly knit relationship with the church.
At a recent international conference on Poland's harsh abortion law, human rights campaigner Wanda Nowicka showed slides of left-wing leaders keen to be photographed next to Roman Catholic bishops.
"That shows you the context in which we are working," she said. "Even the left, which in theory should be pushing for more liberal legislation, is very much dependent on the church."
More distance needed, critics say
This spells trouble in the long run - not just for the Polish political system, but also for the church, according to Szymon Holownia of the liberal TV channel Religia.
"The church is not the place for political agitation," he said. "I think we have made some mistakes in this area, where the church became very strongly connected with politics on a social level. We were creating a new country, a new system, but now everything's changed, and I think there's no turning back."
As Radio Maryja continues to be the early morning and bedtime listening for millions of Poles, politicians who claim to have the backing of the church are free to push their conservative agenda.
This year alone, the Polish parliament has passed a law under which pedophiles are to face chemical castration, while the future of IVF treatment in Poland is hanging in the balance, with a strong Catholic lobby calling for a ban because of what it calls the murder of surplus human embryos produced during the procedure.
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 26, 2009 22:00:19 GMT 1
Some places run by nuns are notorious for violence. Not all, only some. Polish nuns accused of child abuse
WARSAW, Poland, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A home for children with physical and mental disabilities in Poland run by an order of nuns is under investigation for allegations of physical abuse.
The police launched the investigation after video footage recorded last summer by a visitor to the home in Studzieniczna in northeast Poland was shown on television, Poland Radio reported. The film clip shows a nun hitting a girl and pulling her air after the child removed her shoes.
About 50 children live in the home operated by an order of Franciscan sisters. Many of the children are severely disabled, suffering from cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other problems.
The Rev. Zygmunt Kopiczko, a priest who is at the home almost every day, denied any abuse occurred there. He said the nun in the filmed footage was properly disciplining a resident who was misbehaving.
Film www.tvn24.pl/2274417,0,0,1,1,lekcja-wychowawcza,wideo.html |
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 15, 2009 21:56:14 GMT 1
Polish magazine fined over anti-abortion piece
9/23/2009
(AP) — WARSAW, Poland - A Polish court is fining a Roman Catholic magazine and ordering it to apologize to a woman for likening her to Nazis for wanting an abortion.
Judge Ewa Solecka ruled Wednesday that Catholics are free to express their moral disapproval of abortion-and even to call it murder-but in a general way that stops short of vilifying a particular person.
She ordered the weekly magazine, Gosc Niedzielny, to pay Alicja Tysciac 30,000 zlotys (nearly $11,000) and issue her a written apology. The magazine had called her a killer and compared her desire for an abortion with Nazi crimes.
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 22, 2009 17:05:01 GMT 1
Poland Defends Right to Keep Crucifixes in Schools
Friday , November 13, 2009
WARSAW, Poland — Heavily Catholic Poland has joined the Vatican in criticizing a European court ruling against the display of crucifixes in Italian schools.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski said his country will never agree to remove crosses from its schools.
The Nov. 3 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights does not require that Poland remove the crosses that hang in most public schools. It could, however, eventually force a review of the use of religious symbols in government-run school across Europe.
The decision touched a nerve in Poland, where religious symbols were banned from public buildings under communist rule but embraced with the return to democracy 20 years ago as an expression of national sovereignty.
During Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday in Warsaw, Kaczynski said that "nobody in Poland will accept the message that you can't hang crosses in schools."
"One shouldn't count on that. Perhaps elsewhere, but never in Poland," said Kaczynski.
Lech Walesa, the pro-democracy dissident and former president — himself a believer who often wears a pin of St. Mary on his lapel — also defended his country's right to display a symbol central to the nation's Christian heritage.
"Minorities must know their place," Walesa said on Thursday during an interview with a TVN24 television station. "We must respect minorities but also protect the rights of the majority."
About 90 percent of Poles are Catholic, and regular church attendance today remains much higher than in more secular Western Europe.
Poles' strong identification with the church goes back centuries but in recent decades has been strengthened by Polish-born Pope John Paul II, who led the church for 27 years until his death in 2005.
The Vatican has also denounced the European court's ruling.
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Post by valpomike on Nov 22, 2009 19:45:51 GMT 1
I hope the people of Poland stand firm, and keep the cross in the schools, we can't and never had them here in the USA. This is what is keeping Poland great, and she can't give in, and change.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 16, 2010 23:57:14 GMT 1
Bible-tearing death metal band face legal action
14.01.2010 14:10
Politicians from the conservative Law and Justice party are taking a Polish death metal band to court for insulting Roman Catholics.
In 2007, Adam “Nergal” Darski, leader of the death metal band Behemoth, tore the Bible to pieces during a concert in the Ucho club in the northern city of Gdynia.
After the incident Ryszard Nowak, head of the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects sued Behemoth for promoting Satanism. Although a court expert witness on religious matters said that the act of destroying the Holy Bible could offend somebody’s religious feelings, the case was discontinued because no one except Nowak accused Behemoth of insulting their religious beliefs.
However, three years after the event, conservative Law and Justice MPs have decided to re-open the case and accuse the band of attacking the religious beliefs of Roman Catholics as a group.
“The band is constantly undermining Christian values and symbols and insulting the Catholic faith during so-called “artistic” performances and talk-shows on the radio and TV,” says Law and Justice MP Jolanta Szczypinska. The MP assures that her party will not allow what she calls “pseudo artists” to hurt Poles’ religious feelings on the pretext of the freedom of speech.
Behemoth's latest album Evangelion has been well received by death metal critics and fans in Poland and abroad. Currently the band are touring in the US.
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Post by valpomike on Jan 17, 2010 20:47:33 GMT 1
Send them back, we don't want them either. But people, who don't know any better show up to see them.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 26, 2010 15:12:45 GMT 1
Polish Catholics celebrate Islam Day
26.01.2010 10:19
The Polish Roman-Catholic church today celebrates Islam Day, which traditionally closes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
The main observations of the Day are scheduled for this afternoon in Warsaw.
Polish Moslems include descendants of the Tartars, who have lived here for 600 years, as well as more recent arrivals - Turks, Arabs and Bosnians.
Comments:
# I am glad to read this news item. I wish the Islamic community would take a hint from it and celebrate their own Christianity Day.
Christians and Muslims adore the same God, even though His attributes differ from one faith to the other. Moreover, very many socio-religious principles are common to both faiths.
After so many millennia of religious thinking, Christians and Muslims should join hands in praising the one true God and refrain from hurling accusations at each other. Muslims and Christians together would form a moral force as yet unheard of in history, in which diversity of beliefs would be tolerated and a new spiritual outlook would be based on what is common to both without deducting anything from either faith.
Of course there are problems on either side of the religious divide; but joining hands in diversity would be the work of the Creator, if only we all pray for this and practice good will. Karmenu of Malta
# bb 26.01.2010 12:21 Good post. We should also include the Jews. After all all of the major religions came from the same basic source - Abraham bb
# Gediminas 26.01.2010 14:02 Tatars have lived in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for 600 years. In the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth they lived mainly in Lithuanian lands, so Lipka Tatars are truly Lithuanian Tatars. Gediminas
# Janusz E. Starkel 26.01.2010 14:48 Christian,Muslims,Jews,Hindu. We need to divide the year and every 3 months celebrate different religion.
That would be discrimination as out there( on this planet) we have many more religions. In Australia bushmens have a few different religions, in Africa many different religions, in South America many different religions. All the difference depends on mashrum the eat. Eather we celebrate all religions or none. I preffer none as I do not like mushrums. Janusz E. Starkel
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 12, 2010 19:13:55 GMT 1
Demon busters meet near Warsaw
12.02.2010 08:55
More than 80 priests from all over Poland attended the 22nd Exorcists’ Congress at the Roman Catholic sanctuary of Niepokalanow, near Warsaw.
This is the first time, though, that they agreed to address a press conference – in response to growing interest in exorcising among parishioners, Marek Wodka, a priest from Radio Niepokalanow explained.
When asked by journalists, the exorcists admitted that possession by the devil may look just like it is portrayed in scary movies. But the rites that the exorcists use to expel evil spirits are much less spectacular.
“Our role is mainly to say prayers and psalms,” Father Andrzej Grefkowicz told the press conference. Another priest, Aleksander Posacki, said that too many myths surround exorcisms, which in fact are based on fundamental church rules.
Congress participants argued that demonology lessons should be treated more seriously in seminaries and that ordinary people, too, would benefit from knowing more about exorcisms. During the congress, the priests discussed the main causes of possession by demons such as occult, esoteric beliefs like magic, eastern meditation and homeopathy.
In the 1990s, there were three exorcists practicing in Poland. Today, their number has exceeded one hundred. Each is appointed by a local bishop. The congresses are held twice a year.www.thenews.pl/national/artykul125510_demon-busters-meet-near-warsaw.html
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 3, 2010 19:24:25 GMT 1
Currently, in our parish of about 10.000 people, there are 6-7 priests. It is enough, but on the whole, the number of Polish priests is decreasing every year. Priests flock to the exits
01.04.2010 09:42
A growing numbers of Catholic priests in Poland are abandoning their calling and leaving the priesthood.
Reviewed by Slawek Szefs
POLSKA THE TIMES quotes results of research by Professor Jozef Baniak, a sociologist from the Theology Department at Poznan University. One of the telling examples reveals that 60 clergymen dropped out of priesthood in only in 3 out of the 42 dioceses in Poland back in 2006. This has been a continual trend. It is estimated that over the past 50 years some one third of the total number of 35 thousand priests may have departed from their vocation. In every second case the reason for their decision have been the hardships of celibacy. This pertained mostly to the group of young priests in the second five years of their parish work.
Polish rescue services are not prepared to react properly in case of a terrorist attack, informs RZECZPOSPOLITA in an interview with former chief of the Government Security Center. In the experts’ opinion the problem is logistic in character and pertains to such vital issues as, for example, lack of an information system on the number of currently available places in hospital emergency wards where potential victims could be quickly transported to. Public information is another problem area as there are no standard procedures on answering questions of the panic stricken or directing those searching for suspected victims. Even starting up special help lines could be a problem. The training of rescue units also leaves much to be desired, because the courses instruct personnel how to react in a typical scenario, assuming everyone involved will react predictably. Experience shows chaos to easily gain the upper hand.
Looking at demographic processes and the standard of living of Poles, PULS BIZNESU draws attention to the speedier than predicted aging and shrinking of Polish society. For more than a decade Poland registered a negative birth rate, with only the past 2 years showing some improvement and the next 4 possibly continuing the trend. After that another long period of falling birth rate will successively increase the ranks of future pensioners. This so-called low fertility trap will create a mounting strain on the country’s economy, experts warn.
DZIENNIK POLSKI, in turn, focuses on the plight of children in Poland. One in five young Poles lives in a low income family, according to an OECD report. The average in these statistics for most of the developing countries is 12 per cent. In real numbers, this means over 1.8 million Polish kids under 19 live in difficult or extreme material conditions. Poland ranks in the lowest category among the 32 OECD members together with Mexico and Turkey. The findings run parallel with a European Commission document showing a similarly dramatic plight of the youngest members of society.
All this is a reflection of the widening polarization and disproportions in the material status of Polish families. www.thenews.pl/press/artykul128637_priests-flock-to-the-exits.html |
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 7, 2010 22:28:44 GMT 1
Virgin Mary puts drivers’ lives at risk?
31.03.2010 13:15
The Roads and Transportation Office has asked archdiocese in the central city of Lodz to remove ads informing about an exhibition of the holy icon of Black Madonna of Czestochowa in a local church - because they constitute a health and safety risk.
The road administration office claims that the banners and decorations are not fixed properly and when the wind blows they fall on passing by cars - which is not very conducive to safe driving.
Besides, the office stresses, the ads are, in effect, Catholic propaganda and the archdiocese did not get a permit to display them, nor have they paid for it.
The Roads and Transportation Office’s call to remove the adverts has been fiercely criticized by members of the Lodz Citizen Alliance, who say that even communist authorities would not dare to forbid the exposition of the holy icon.
The conservative Law and Justice city councilors also condemned the office’s decision and promised to reverse it.
After the city authority’s intervention, head of the Roads and Transportation Office Maciej Winsche apologized to the archdiocese for the “inappropriate form and content of the letter”. (mg/pg)
Source: Gazeta Wyborcza www.thenews.pl/national/artykul128568_virgin-mary-puts-drivers-lives-at-risk.html
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 7, 2010 22:31:01 GMT 1
All-night confessions
31.03.2010 08:31
Catholic Churches in Szczecin, north west Poland, will stay open for confession on Thursday and Friday night before Easter.
The clergy in the city hope the event will repeat the immense success of the 24 hours of confession in Chicago in 2007, when 2,500 people came to admit sins to a priest.
“The idea is to reach out to young and middle aged people, who are so busy that they keep postponing coming to confession before Easter until it’s often too late,” Father Grzegorz Adamski, coordinator of the Confessional Night, told Polish Radio.
Originally, three Szczecin churches were to stay open all night, but more and more Catholic shrines in the region are joining the project, as can be seen on the website devoted to it. Priests will hear confessions in turn, for two hours from 10 p.m. till 6 a.m. Flyers and billboards with information about the Confessional Night have appeared throughout Szczecin.
“This is a good idea both from the perspective of the faithful as well as us, priests”, says Tomasz Kancelarczyk, explaining that long queues form for confessionals at this time of the year and there is no time for a proper confession. (kk/pg)
Comments
* Irish Guy 31.03.2010 12:57 What's next Priest's on call? "Call now on 80808080 and speak to a priest who is just waiting to hear your sins!!". Irish Guy
* b 31.03.2010 20:28 its terrible. some students do not go to church during the school year, and before they return home they go to confession so that they may participate in communion with their parents. and their parents will think they are still good kids. b
* Victor 01.04.2010 03:36 I go to the Polish National Catholic Church. We don't confess to a priest unless we really want to. Otherwise it's just a silent confession during the mass. In our church the priests can get married. Victor
* Bob 01.04.2010 08:28 "The clergy in the city hope the event will repeat the immense success of the 24 hours of confession in Chicago in 2007, when 2,500 people came to admit sins to a priest. " - maybe that's the 'after bar' crowd showing in the stats?  www.thenews.pl/national/artykul128550_all-night-confessions-.html |
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 7, 2010 22:44:04 GMT 1
Battle of the Warsaw mosque
29.03.2010 11:53
Despite a huge amount of coverage in the media, Saturday’s demonstrations for and against the planned mosque in Warsaw attracted only a couple of hundred supporters, on either side of the conflict.
Though police and media almost outnumbered the protestors, the demonstrations – three different ones in all – were noisy but peaceful. Chants of “Down with Jihad” and “Freedom for women” by the anti-mosque protestors mingled with “Stop Islamophobia” from the pro-mosque group led by members of Poland’s extra-parliamentary leftwing. A third group from the far-right All-Polish Youth stood to one side, their green flags fluttering in a bitter wind.
The anti-mosque demonstration was organized by the Future of Europe foundation, who fear the Islamisation of the continent. They claim that the group which will control the mosque, the Polish Muslim League, has possible links to the jihadist Muslim Brotherhood.
“We are not protesting against freedom of worship or the freedom of someone to believe in Islam or Allah,” said Jan Wojcik of Future for Europe. “But we have information that connects the [Saudi Arabian] investor with the Federation of Islam in Europe, which many researchers believe is connected with the Muslim Brotherhood. This is why we are afraid and we want the government to check this.”
The mosque, or ‘Centre of Islamic Culture’, has been designed by KAPS Architekci, and the building site is located in close vicinity of the Blue City shopping centre, at the Zeslancow Syberyjskich roundabout, just to the west of the city centre. The three-story building will have an 18-metre high minaret where the Polish capital’s Muslim population can come to pray or attend one of the many cultural events which will take place at the building. Non-Muslims can also come and learn about Islam.
The fact that the mosque is being financed by an unnamed Saudi investor doesn’t make Jan Wojcik feel any easier about the project. “We know that Saudi Arabia is spending a lot of money around the world spreading the word of [Islam fundamentalist] Wahhabism,” he told thenews.pl.
On the other side of a police line – and the argument – were a smaller group of pro-mosque demonstrators who fear Wojcik’s protest may stir up anti-Muslim feeling within Poland. “There are already two mosques in Warsaw,” someone called Magda told us. “I believe in a multi-cultural Poland. The small Muslim minority in Warsaw, just 11,000 people, need a place where they can build their community,” she said.
Islam charter
The Future of Europe foundation – which emphasizes that it has nothing against Islam as a religion, but is concerned about the rise of what they term “Islamo-fascism’ in Europe – has come up with what Jan Wojcik calls a “constructive proposal’ to end the conflict. “If [the Polish Muslim League] sign the Charter of Muslim Understanding then we have no problem with the mosque,” he said.
The proposed charter, drawn up by an internationally recognized specialist in the Koran and Sharia law, was presented to the European Parliament in December 2006 and renounces religiously inspired violence and says that the position of women, for example, in Islamic culture is historical in nature and not doctrinal.
Wojcik also wanted to disassociate his organisation from the handful of Catholic-nationalist All-Polish Youth who had also turned up to protest. “We told them to stand to one side,” he said. “These people are skinheads…”
“We are a conservative and rightwing group who represent traditional values and Christian morality,” said Marcin from All-Polish Youth. “It seems to me that this group [Future of Europe] represent different values. They are social democrats and liberals. We think that this building will not change anything [in Poland] or our thinking about Islam. But we are thinking about the experience of France or Germany or any other western country. Islamic values are not connected to European, Christian values,” he said.
Members of the Polish Muslim League were not at the demonstration.
Story by Peter Gentle
Audio by Magda Jensen
www.thenews.pl/national/artykul128441_battle-of-the-warsaw-mosque.html
Comments
* Steve Hughes 29.03.2010 15:17 As an Englishman who lives in a multi-racial, multi-cultural society, and as a frequent visitor to Poland, my heart bleeds at the thought of Poland taking the same road to ruin witnessed in the UK, Italy, Germany, France, etc. Steve Hughes
* John Z 29.03.2010 15:36 My English expatriat friend tells me that 40% of the children born in England are now muslim. Is that true? John Z
* Jasiek 29.03.2010 16:03 Only politics nerds on the internet are enthusiastic over this issue on both side. They are slaves to the dualism of good and evil. Jasiek
* Yoda 29.03.2010 16:08 Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Yoda
* Dave 29.03.2010 16:41 I am English and also my family and Steve Hughes is 100% correct our country is finished and I have been looking at Poland and Switzerland as places to move to ....dont make the same mistake as we have done , they will take over ... Dave
* Felix 29.03.2010 16:50 I am a Christian Pole and I am prepared to defend the right of Muslims to erect a mosque complete with minaret in Warsaw.
For nearly 50 years the Russians kept us imprisoned under the pestilence of communism, I used the word pestilence because it wasn’t even a political system but rather malignant form of mental illness. During that period they did everything possible to stop the construction of churches, our nation is awash with the blood of patriots who struggled to end such a system.
Today the people of Warsaw are not in the position to protest the erection of a mosque as they have tolerated and at times venerated an edifice to a mass murderer who created a sea of Polish blood. Yes I’m refereeing to the Palace of Culture, which does by its existence speak volumes about the Polish culture or at least the mentality of the citizens of Warsaw.
I would advise the Muslims of Warsaw that when they complete their minarets to shout aloud from it:
“we did not kill by execution 22,000 Polish military personal”
“we did not put your civilians packed 80 to a cattle cars”
“we did not invade your country as allies of Adolf Hitler”
“we did not murder a 1.5 million Polish citizens in the Soviet Concentration camps”
SHAME ON THE CITIZENS OF WARSAW FOR PROTESTING AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF A HOUSE OF WORSHIP!
Felix
* Maciej Skiba 29.03.2010 17:10 “We are not protesting against freedom of worship or the freedom of someone to believe in Islam or Allah,” said Jan Wojcik of Future for Europe. “But we have information that connects the [Saudi Arabian] investor with the Federation of Islam in Europe, which many researchers believe is connected with the Muslim Brotherhood.
I think this is more than a reasonable position taken by the Future for Europe. Since when is wanting to make sure a terrorist organization is not involved with the funding of a mosque as Islamophobic? Are there people so seriously politically correct in Europe that we can't even be against terrorist organizations? Maciej Skiba
* Jasiek 29.03.2010 17:16 Dave,
Stay in England and just let them take over. There will be no problem as long as you native English stay home to keep struggling to get yourself and the newcomers involved in the commnity activities together. In Germany a Vietnamese became a minister last year and there is no problem with it there. An influx of your current mentality into Poland is no good to the Polish people. Don't even think of constructing a WASP-style gated community in a country that has one of the greatest history of multiculturism. Poland is not your suburbia or racists' sanctuary. Jasiek
* anon 29.03.2010 17:26 Jan Wojcik of "Future for Europe" says "researchers believe" the league is linked with terrorism?
Well, then, it must be true. anon
* Maciej Skiba 29.03.2010 17:35 Anon there is actually some credible evidence to back that claim up. Also as Wojcik stated, If the Polish Muslim League sign the Charter of Muslim Understanding then there will be no protests. Maciej Skiba
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Post by jeanne on Apr 8, 2010 22:05:48 GMT 1
All-night confessions
31.03.2010 08:31
Catholic Churches in Szczecin, north west Poland, will stay open for confession on Thursday and Friday night before Easter.
The clergy in the city hope the event will repeat the immense success of the 24 hours of confession in Chicago in 2007, when 2,500 people came to admit sins to a priest.In my archdiocese, the Archdiocese of Boston, there was an initiative entitled "The Light Is On For You". Every Wednesday night during Lent, every church and chapel in the archdiocese was open and priests were available for confession. It was modeled after a program they had in Washington DC a couple of years ago that met with great success. From what I've heard, it was considered a good success here, too. |
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Post by Bonobo on May 9, 2010 22:03:58 GMT 1
A giant statue of Jesus is being erected in Świebodzin. It is going to be the highest in the world. Higher than the one in Rio. But not too original - Polish Jesus will be also extending his arms like his Brazilian predecessor. But the crown will be covered with real gold layer. What can I say as a Catholic? Oh my God....    |
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Post by Bonobo on May 15, 2010 21:00:18 GMT 1
Church attendance down in Poland
13.05.2010 16:06
Congregations in Poland are falling, says a new report by the Polish Roman Catholic church.
According to the Catholic Church’s Institute of Statistics, in the 1980s, one out of every two Poles professed regular attendance at Sunday Mass. Now, numbers have dropped to 41 percent.
The biggest congregations of church-goers are reported to be in southern Poland, especially in the Tarnów and Kraków dioceses, where some 70% of faithful attend Mass every Sunday.
In the Łódź, central Poland, congregations have fallen to a modest 30 percent.
However, in respect of 2009, turnout has improved and priests also point out that growing numbers of people take Communion at Mass (now 17 percent) which means that they are more conscious of their faith.
The annual church census is held on a Sunday every year in October or November.www.thenews.pl/national/artykul131551_church-attendance-down-in-poland.html
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