Dangerous Liaisons between the Catholic Church and State: the religious and political alliance of the nationalist right with the conservative Church in Poland

ABSTRACT

This article describes the history of relations between the Catholic Church and the Polish state in the period from the 1990s to the present. The authors defend a thesis that, although political elites and the state underwent pressure from the Church, the society had many opportunities to separate its religious beliefs from its own political choices, begin the slow process of secularization and learn the lessons of Enlightenment in this part of Europe. The political pressure of the Church on parliamentarians and its alliance with right-wing politicians is presented through the example of the In Vitro Fertilization Act. The authors analyse statements of the episcopate and speeches of right-wing politicians during a debate in the Senate. The article also refers to surveys to show a growing gap between the clerical state and the increasingly secularized society. Furthermore, the authors describe the growing political and religious alliance of “throne and altar” – especially under PiS rule – and the predominance of nationalist and conservative ideas in the Catholic Church in Poland.

KEYWORDS:

• Catholic fundamentalism
• secularization
• clericalism
• Catholic nationalism
• religious fundamentalism
• Law and Justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. All quotations from Polish sources are my translation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Piotr Żuk

Piotr Żuk is a Professor in the Department of the Sociology of the Public Sphere in the Institute of Sociology at the University of Wrocław. He studies aspects of state politics and policy, racialisation and the politics of ethnicity and human rights. His publications on progressive social movements include studies of activism in support of the rights of housing tenants and migrant workers, as well as studies of the peace movement and environmental activism. His research on the rise of the populist right in Eastern Europe has included analysis of the ideological role of school curricula and of the interaction of class and labour migration in the resurgence of racism.

Paweł Żuk

Paweł Żuk – PhD, President of The Centre for Civil Rights and Democracy Research, author and co-author of numerous books: Kultura a polityka. Socjologiczne refleksje o powstawaniu orientacji politycznych w Polsce [Culture and Politics. Sociological Reflections on the Formation of Political Orientations in Poland, Warszawa 2015], O kulturze strachu i przemyśle bezpieczeństwa [On the Culture of Fear and Security Industry, Warszawa 2015].