A bulwark against despair, a sanctuary of freedom, a subversive counterforce -- during a decade of struggle against communist control, the Roman Catholic Church in Poland was all that and more, depending on the viewpoint. Its representatives stood courageously alongside the Solidarity trade union and suffered the consequences, when Father Jerzy Popieluszko, an activist priest, was murdered by government security agents in 1984. When the struggle ended in 1989 with a Solidarity-led government, the church emerged triumphant, solidly allied with an administration it had all but installed.
A year later, the church, to which 97% of Poland's 38 million people belong, is omnipresent and, in the view of some, virtually omnipotent. Bishops and priests bless the armed forces, schools and factories. The newly created post of superior chaplain to the army has been given the rank of general. To mark the 200th anniversary of the country's first liberal constitution earlier this month, President Lech Walesa, a devout Catholic, skipped ceremonies at parliament and instead visited the national shrine of the Black Madonna at Jasna Gora.
Beyond such symbolic gestures, the church is exercising direct political influence in an often fractious country that has just begun to build democracy. Last August, after lobbying by church officials, the government introduced optional religious instruction in schools by administrative fiat rather than parliamentary vote. A poll released last week shows that the church is perceived as the single most powerful national institution, stronger than the government, the presidency, the military, the old communist nomenklatura and even Solidarity. The church's ascendancy has left many Poles uneasily wondering whether their country might someday be transformed into a clerical state, ruling in accordance with the dicta of Pope John Paul II (who makes his fourth papal visit to his native country next month).
Recent statements by the Polish Episcopate have fueled apprehension. In late April the bishops urged that the new constitution exclude any provision for the separation of church and state. Instead, they suggested, "exceptional emphasis should be laid on the need for cooperation between the state and the Catholic Church."
The church's gravest concerns -- and most assiduous efforts -- center on abortion, a volatile issue in a country where as many as 600,000 such procedures are performed each year. A liberal abortion law, which has been on the books since 1956, is still in effect, but the Senate has passed a bill that would impose a prison term of as much as two years on anyone performing the procedure unless the pregnancy threatened the mother's life or stemmed from rape or incest. Several variants on that bill, many of them even stiffer, are being considered by the Sejm, the lower house, which is due to vote this week on whether to submit the question to a national referendum. Earlier this month, the bishops' conference condemned that option. Meanwhile, the government has ended subsidies for birth-control pills. That move, which many suspect was church inspired, will triple the price of pills, putting them beyond the reach of many women.