MikeLigalig.com

By JAN PUHL, SPIEGEL
July 20, 2013



PHOTO: Polish priest Wojciech Lemanski meets with his parishoners in Jasienica near Warsaw, Poland, July 14, 2013.
(Leszek Szymanski/AFP/Getty Images)


He's loved by his congregation but loathed by the archbishop. Rebellious priest Wojciech Lemanski is seen as the church's No. 1 enemy in Poland. His dismissal highlights the deep divide between church authorities and the faithful in this staunchly Catholic nation.

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Lemanski, who was ordained in 1987, was never a compliant priest. He repeatedly used his pulpit and his blog to voice his criticism of the church. He has accused the church leadership of not doing enough to oppose anti-Semitic tendencies among Poland's Catholics. He has also critcized the establishment's lenient treatment of clerics accused of sexual abuse, and its fierce rejection of artificial insemination and contraceptives. His vocal criticism drove Henryk Hoser, the archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, to suspend Lemanski last week. But Lemanski wrote the archbishop a letter informing him that he wouldn't budge.

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Wojchiech Wishes Successor Well

Despite the show of support from his congregation, Pastor Wojciech ultimately decided to resign. He said he still considered the bishops' decision to be unfair, but that he would yield. "Today you are pushing a car, but tomorrow you will flip it over or possibly even hurt somebody," he sternly told his followers. Lemanski then packed his things and left the parsonage. He said he will wait for a decision from the Vatican regarding his dispute with the church hierarchy, but that he wishes his successor well.

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Poland was the only EU country that recorded growth during the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008 and, statistically, Poles are among the hardest-working people in Europe. Stressed-out couples in Warsaw or Poznan simply have little understanding for the church prohibiting artificial insemination. A large part of the Polish population, particularly in the cities, has experienced an enormous upswing in recent years. Gay people living openly has become normal in many places and fewer and fewer women are willing to eschew careers to have children, as the church would like them to.

Pawel Wronski, a church expert at the respected daily Gazeta Wyborcza, says the dispute surrounding Lemanski is a fundamental one. It reveals a "major conflict over what shape the church should take. Should it be more open and engage with believers and non-believers -- or should it be a shamanic church?"




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