Father and Shepherd #11 | The Primate in defence of human rights

fot. Instytut Prymasowski Stefana Kardynała Wyszyńskiego

Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński the Primate of Poland has remained in the memory of Poles as a statesman, defender of faith and freedom of the homeland, advocate of unconditional human dignity.

He had never been indifferent to social problems, despite accusations that the Church meddles with politics. He never remained silent, seeing the workers being hurt and the abuses of power. However, when it came to the safety of the entire homeland, he asked for prudence and patience. He took the responsibility on himself.

He spoke many times with representatives of the highest state authorities, who were party secretaries – with Bolesław Bierut, Władysław Gomułka (once  for 11 hours), Edward Gierek, Stanisław Kania, and Wojciech Jaruzelski, calling for the rights of workers. He mentions it in a letter to Bishop Herbert Bednorz of Katowice. This letter is a response to the doubts conveyed by the Bishop of the workers whether the Church is not too submissive to the authorities at their expense. The Primate has never dealt with any matters at the expense of the people. He said: “I will not earn money on the blood of the workers.” He writes about it directly:

“Let me recall the episode after the” December revolution “[1970]. Some Catholic groups then asked me if it would be possible to take advantage of the difficult situation of the government and put forward the demands of the Church. I replied: The Polish Episcopate is not in the habit of “taking advantage of the situation”. Let the government go ahead to satisfy the demands of the dock workers. ”

In talks with representatives of the highest state authorities, he persistently argued for the rights of workers, demanded amnesty, for example for the participants of the demonstration in June 1976, during the riots in Ursus and Radom. In talks and memorials, he demanded an amendment to the Labour Code, he called for decent working hours for workers so that, tempted by wages, they would not prematurely exhaust their forces. At that time, it was planned to introduce a four-shift work system.

The most intense time of direct cooperation with workers is the time of Solidarity. As a man associated with trade union activities, before World War II, he perfectly understood the demands of workers.

He supported their demand for approval of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity”. He talked to the authorities and pleaded for respect for the natural rights of working people.

Responding with respect even those who considered themselves enemies of the Church, Primate Wyszyński demanded fair treatment of believers in the Homeland:

“Both a Catholic bishop and a Catholic priest, and every Catholic in Poland is also a Pole and this constitutes a nation. We, baptized people, entered the life of our nation with all the strength of our Christian spirit, and we did not bring any harm or dishonour to this nation. That is why we will not allow ourselves to block our mouths with a corrupt hand ”.

Aware of the great value in human life, in all its dimensions, faith in God, the Primate did not allow the Church to be eliminated from social life and closed in the sacristy. Speaking to lawyers, he explained: “Whenever social topics come to the pulpit, you don’t have to think that it is dragging politics to the pulpit. It is the duty of the Church to remind us of the moral principles of life and coexistence, work and cooperation. Only then would the Church have compromised her duties if she had not been doing so, or had allowed herself to be intimidated and had not said anything about social matters. The Church must not be intimidated. ”

Firmly defending the freedom and rights of the Church, Primate Wyszyński always referred to justice married with love.

“The great disease of the modern world is that it has trusted in hatred. At the moment, two great forces are struggling for priority and primacy in the world. The power of hatred, armed with steel shells, hateful doctrines, entire programs of hate and the pedagogy of hatred – and the power of love that does not pay with evil for the evil suffered, but forgives, loves despite everything, even enemies, ordering those who hate us to do good , and humbly asks us to pray for those who persecute and slander us. This is the victory that conquers the world! This is the yearning of the world and its need, a social order that emerges with a great voice from the hearts of the human family, born of the Father’s love! ”.

In the pastoral letter announcing the Social Crusade of Love in 1967, he included a message that shows that the only way to a true renewal of life, the way to overcome crises and develop social life in the spirit of Christian culture.

“By violating the law of social love, by exacerbating individualism in many areas of life, people have reached the absurdity of self-destruction, the destruction of the family, social, national and human ties”.

In order for social love not to be general, but to penetrate the everyday life of people in the homeland, this program was presented by the Primate in the so-called ABC of the Social Crusade of Love:

1. Respect every human being, because Christ lives in him. Be sensitive to the other person, your brother.
2. Think good of everyone – don’t think badly of anyone. Try to find something good even in the worst.
3. Always speak kindly of others – do not speak ill of others. Really the harm done to the word. Don’t make a disconnect between people.
4. Speak with every language of love. Don’t raise your voice. Do not swear. Don’t be upset. Don’t squeeze any tears. Calm down and be kind.
5. Forgive everything, everyone. Don’t hold a grudge in your heart. Always reach out first for reconcilation.
6. Always act for the benefit of your neighbour. Do good to everyone as if you would like it to be done to you. Don’t think about who owes you, but what you owe to others.
7. Actively sympathize with suffering. We are happy to rush with consolation, advice, help, heart.
8. Work honestly, because others benefit from the fruits of your work, just as you use the work of others.
9. Get involved in social assistance to others. Open yourself to the poor and the sick. Use yours. Try to see those in need around you.
10. Pray for everyone, even for your enemies.

Cardinal Wyszyński considered the life of love and harmony to be the greatest good for man and the Fatherland. He put his love for Poland above all else.

“For us, after God, Poland is the greatest love! We must be faithful to God, first of all, to our homeland and Polish national culture. We will love all the people in the world but a just love. After God, after Jesus Christ and the Holy Mother, after all God’s order, our love belongs, first and foremost, to our homeland, history and culture from which we grow on Polish soil. And even if the various invitations to love all peoples and nations were announced on banners, we would not be against it, but we would demand that we could live, above all, with the spirit, history, culture and language of our beautiful Polish land, worked out for centuries with the life of our forefathers. ”

Primate Wyszyński considered the defence of the nation’s spiritual identity the most important thing: “The enemies know what is good for the nation and what is harmful to it. If they want to harm him, they would destroy what helps him. Therefore, the invaders have always destroyed the Church and wanted to erase the traces of Christian morality in the life of the nation. That is why they tried to humiliate the nation and drink up its spirit of faith. These are lessons from the recent past. May we not forget them quickly, because they can be useful to us!

We recognize the enemies of our nation by the way they relate to God and to Christian morality. They are able to assess the sense of this morality for us, they know that it is the strength and power of the nation, that it best serves its existence, its wholeness and its unity. Therefore, by wanting to destroy a nation, they destroy its faith and Christian morality. ”

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