Pope
John Paul II and Polish Accession to the EU:
a
political struggle between “east” and “west”
Introduction
When
talking about the eastern enlargement of the European Union in 2004, it is
inevitable not to mention the background of Cold War notions of east and west,
and the dissolution of the communist system. One of the criteria to join the EU
for new member states was to have a “full fledged liberal market economy”,
evidently the complete opposite of the communist market system. This has also
added to the view of the EU(ropean) identity being built around liberalism.
Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) had a very different opinion on his native
country’s Poland’s accession to the Union. This paper is an attempt to point
out his most important opinions about the new, post-communist Europe.
Since the paper is solely focusing on the political views of the pope,
it will not mention details about his private life. Also, even if mentioning
the Cold War several times, the goal has been not to drift away from the European
context when discussing the situation. I have tried to keep a more objective
view upon the political papacy of John Paul II, than some of the given sources
have. In order to do so, I have kept a liberal, atheist and somewhat feminist
approach to his opinions, especially in the conclusion.
Ecumenism and ‘returning to Europe’
"I’m
sending out a cry of love to you, old Europe: find yourself again, be yourself,
discover your origins, revive your roots, revive those authentic values which
make your history glorious and your presence beneficent on other
continents."
John
Paul II, 1982 (quoted in Chelini-Pont 131)
Pope John
Paul II devoted more than 300 speeches and writings on Europe as a concept. (Chelini-Pont 139). As the first Slavic pope
being inaugurated in 1978, during the critical times of the Cold War, it was
impossible for him to keep an objective view upon Europe at the time, even
though his subjectivity was based on
the constant idea of united Christianity, ecumenism, and not on politics as
such. Throughout his papacy John Paul II tried, and succeeded in many ways, to build
stronger relations with the Protestant, but mostly the Orthodox Church. The
pope explained the goal of ecumenism to be “the full communion of Christians in
one apostolic faith and in one eucharistic fellowship at the service of a truly
common witness” (quoted in Weigel 494). This is also a clear symbolic reference
to the trinity, present in all three branches of the faith; where the Orthodox,
the Protestant, and the Catholic churches unite in full communion, in the same
way the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, are all in fact, the same (Ibid.
495).
On October 11, 1988 Pope John Paul II was in Strasbourg, addressing the
European Parliament on his visions of Europe. In his view, neglecting the
post-World War II “west” and “east” division of Europe was important, so that
the continent would “reach the full dimensions that geography and, even more,
history has given it” (cited in Weigel 584). Throughout his political speeches
and writings on Europe, the pope would often set himself against the 1945 Yalta
Conference division of Europe, usually without even mentioning the word
“Yalta”. Instead, he pushed for a united Europe where the continent,
symbolically, should find its deeper reasons for unity, that is, searching for
its soul in Christianity. Only then could Europe be completely united (Ibid.
312, 584).
In his strive to reunite Europe, and, within that, Christianity, the
pope evolved the idea of the west and east being the two “spiritual lungs” of
Europe, with Rome and Constantinople as the old centers of power and
civilization. Another sign of this “double-edge teaching” during the 1980’s was
to name St Cyril and Methodius the “co-patron saints of Europe”, legitimately
sent to evangelize the Slavic peoples in the 9th century
(Chelini-Pont 140). In the division of Cold War Europe, the pope condemned the
western vision of the East, and how the two totalitarian systems of the 20th
century had lost the countries in between, Mitteleuropa
(ibid 140). The term in its modern sense is often used to describe the Catholic
states behind the Iron Curtain. Then Europe
becomes “the spiritual unity synonymous with the word “West” and [affirming
that it] is also the cultural home of the Poles, the Czechs and Hungarians, who
belong to a part of Europe deeply rooted in Roman Christianity” (Delanty 137). Pope
John Paul II saw Mitteleuropa as a
bridge between the western and eastern Christianity. Thus, the “return to
Europe” was perceived as referring to those central European countries to a
larger extent than to those further east (Chelini-Pont140).
Additionally, Poland, and the Catholic Church in Poland, had a different
role than in other Communist countries. Firstly, Poland had its most powerful
contributor for change on the other side of the iron curtain, John Paul II.
Secondly, the Catholic Church was not banned to the same extent in Poland as it
was in many other countries (Crampton 365). Therefore, according to John Paul II,
and the ones analyzing his writings, Poland’s return to Europe was inevitable,
for “Poles have always taken part in the creation of Europe” (quoted in Törnquist-Plewa
238-239).
Papal pilgrimages to Poland
“Every
return to Poland is like a return to the family home, where the smallest
objects remind us of what is closest and dearest to our hearts”
John
Paul II, 31 May 1997 (quoted in Weigel 799)
John Paul
II was a travelling pope, trying to spread his words of peace and Christian
unity worldwide. However, most of his travels were towards East Central Europe,
and of course, Poland. As a pope, he paid 7 papal visits to his native country,
the first in 1979 and the last in 2002. His first visit to communist Poland, in
1979, has been seen as a crucial breaking point for the Polish journey towards
democracy. The other visits have in different ways included symbolism about
Poland and Poland’s role in Europe throughout.
In June of 1979 John Paul II went back to his native country for the
first time since his inauguration nine months earlier. He stayed for nine days,
sometimes referred to as “the nine days that changed the world”, by very
pro-Vatican voices (Weigel 304). Nevertheless, this epic pilgrimage was seen as
utterly important by many (Crampton 365, Rothschild and Wingfield 197-198, 237,
Davies 474-475). The enormous crowds and the pride of the people were
impossible to deny even for the communist government, and the relationship
between the Church and the Communist remained reasonably well. Poles, neither
Catholics nor communists could fail to be proud by the fact that one of their
countrymen had taken the role of the head of the Catholic Church (Davies 475).
After leaving Poland in 1979, the hope seemed to be restored among Poles. The
papal visit of 1979 is seen as the spark for the Gdansk shipyard strike and the
birth of the Solidarity movement a year later, in August 1980 (Weigel 323-325).
After the Jaruzelski government’s introduction of martial law in 1981,
as an effort to crush the uprisings and strikes, the pope’s attitude when
addressing the situation of his native Poland was seen as being more political.
During the 1980’s the pope established good contact with the Solidarność
intelligentsia and his visits in 1983 and 1987 were seen as attempts for
negotiations, and, of course, to bring hope to the people.
The growth and success of the Solidarity movement is therefore closely
linked to John Paul II to the Catholic Church. In June of 1989, Poland had its
“semi-democratic” election following the Round Table Negotiations earlier that
spring. The election was, to the surprise of many communists, a great success
for Solidarność,
bringing Poland its first non-communist President, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, since
World War II. The devoted Catholic Mazowiecki frequently (re)used the phrase of
“Poland’s return to Europe”, now interpreted as a process that was to be
implemented into many areas (Törnquist-Plewa 237).
But this transformation was not solely positive, Poland in the early
1990’s was struggling with economic problems and identity-issues towards Western
Europe. The papal visit of 1991 was generally seen as the least successful one.
During his 1980’s visits the spirit of rebellion, unity and Solidarity (with a
capital S!), were the main themes. In the newly democratic Poland of 1991 there
seemed to be a disconnection between the pope and his people. Also the new Solidarity-government
seemed to think that the Pope required too much during his visit in terms of
facilities; not understanding the pressures democratically elected leaders were
under. The new common view upon John Paul II was that of an angry old man,
incapable of understanding the world he had helped bring about (Weigel
641-644).
The pilgrimage of 1997, however, was once again one filled with hope. With
the Polish accessions processes to the EU and NATO looking at a good future for
the country, the political and economic situation was more positive than it had
been six years earlier (Davies 517). Upon arrival in Wroclaw on the 31st
of May, he gave an address to give hope for the future:
“What Poles are living in today – a free Church in a
free and reasonably secure state – hadn’t happened in Poland for centuries. (…)
Think of citizenship as a vocation to enliven every sphere of life, including
politics and economics, with the leaven of the Gospel. Look to the roots as a
source of the virtues necessary to make the free society work. Be proud of what
your entrepreneurial spirit has accomplished” (quoted in Weigel 799).
This
“fidelity to roots” was in the Pope’s view something unique for Poland, and
something to bring in its “return to Europe”, inspiring other European
Countries (Weigel 801).
Critique of the Modern Society
“Those
who thought that Europe could be built out of economic, legal and political
mechanism alone were deluding themselves. Culture remained fundamental, and (…)
[t]he humanism born from biblical faith was Europe’s historical heritage, and
the best safeguard of its identity, liberty and progress in the future.”
John
Paul II, 1988 (paraphrased in Weigel 584-585)
Throughout
his papacy, John Paul II turned a lot of attention towards the notion of culture. Weigel explains further:
“As a Pole who had reflected long and hard on the fact
that the Polish nation had survived when the Polish state was abolished, he was
convinced that culture drove history in the long run. The realists were wrong,
not because military and economic power were unimportant, but because culture
was more important. And the most powerful component of culture was cult, or
religion” (296).
Thus, in
short, God is in charge of history, and history is driven by its most powerful
force, culture. The most important component of culture is religion, which
shapes society. The constant presence of God is therefore the key to a society,
and a history, and a Europe, in peace, with a focus on human rights and freedom.
The most fundamental part of human rights was the right of religious freedom
for all. The Church saw itself as a peacemaker when promoting human rights as
in religious freedom (referring to the forced secularism in communist
countries), for peace and human rights were indivisible (Ibid. 295-296, 350).
In building the culture, or society, the pope believed there were two
different types of humanism, the “cultural humanism”, built upon the Christian
faith, where obedience to God was the source of true freedom, and the “modern
humanism” built upon secular ideas of democracy and freedom, a “system of
alienation”. Moving away from God was dangerous for Europe, since it lost its
true foundations and morals, and freedom (Ibid. 584-585).
In his stances on democracy and religious freedom, the subtle critique
was mostly referring to communism, and other totalitarian systems. However,
during the 1990’s and coming closer to the enlargement of the EU, the critique
of “modern humanism” was clearly addressing the liberal, secular democracies of
the “West”. In 1995 the encyclical Evangelium
Vitae, the Gospel of life, was given out. In that, the pope introduced the
term "Culture of Death" (in contrast to Culture of Life) to explain
the tendencies he had seen in the modern societies. In the writing he condemns
the legalizations of abortion, death penalty and euthanasia, as described by
Weigel: “Democracies that deny the inalienable right to life from conception
until natural death are tyrant states that poison the “culture of rights” and
betray the “long historical process”(…) that once led to discovering the idea
of human rights (757)”. The term “culture of death”, or “morbid culture”, also
came to include being “permissive, indifferent, materialistic and hedonistic”
(Chelini-Pont 142). This was the “backside of civilization” and the effect of
the “modern humanism” based on a secular, liberal society.
The vision that the reconstruction of Europe and the evolvement of the
European Union was dangerously distancing itself from its origins and true
culture then became a more present theme for John Paul II during the late 1990’s
and early 2000’s. In the discussions of the elaboration process of the new
European Constitution in 2003, the Vatican pushed for including the recognition
of “Europe’s Christian roots.” The notion of the Union having exclusively
liberal foundations (or relying on “modern humanism”, in his own words) was a
deep concern for the pope (Ibid. 140-142). Despite some open support, mostly
from Poland and Italy, the final Constitution included another view about the
symbolical founding grounds of the Union:
“[T]he inspiration of the cultural, religious and
humanist heritage of Europe, from which the universal values of the inviolable
an inalienable rights of human beings developed, as well as freedom, democracy
and the rule of law” (Ibid. 141)
Poland and the EU
"The
Holy Father hopes that (...) Poland can make a contribution with its moral and
spiritual values and its religious convictions."
Vatican
spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, 9 June 2003 (quoted in Marchall)
Even though
the pope had his doubts about the secular nature of the European Union, he was
still very pro-European. In Barbara Törnquist-Plewa’s description, John Paul II
very well belonged to the group of Catholic “Euro-rationalists” present in
Poland in the late 1990’s; very positive towards the Union, but not wanting it
to be “imitated thoughtlessly, but modified in a creative way that fits Polish
society”(238). In this view, Europe and the EU are not necessarily seen as the
entirely same thing. For example, Pope John Paul II was more positive to
general European integration, than to EU-institutions as such.
Just three weeks before the Polish referendum on joining the EU, Pope
John Paul II made a statement on Poland and the EU:
"I know that there are many in
opposition to integration. I appreciate their concern about maintaining the
cultural and religious identity of our nation. However, I must emphasize that
Poland has always been an important part of Europe. Europe needs Poland. The
Church in Europe needs the Poles' testimony of faith. Poland needs Europe” (Frydrych).
In this statement the pope went back to the notions of Poland’s return
to Europe, in order to save the continent from the secular nature the EU was
moving towards. The symbolic value of Poland as the “Christ of Nations”, or as
the “Bulwark of Christianity” towards the east, can be put into this same
context. The words of the aging pope came at a crucial moment and undermined
efforts of Fundamental Catholic-rooted groups such as the League of Polish
Families (LPR) to gain power over the masses for a “No”. However, the chances
for a negative vote were, in fact, never high, but were entirely “buried with
the papal statement” (Ibid.)
On June 7th and 8th of 2003 the referendum on
joining the European Union to the was held in Poland, and the “No” was indeed
far away, when 77,5 % of Poles voted “Yes”. Conveniently, the polling booths
were put out close to the churches throughout the country, “going from mass
straight to the booths” became a fact, making most adult church-goers vote,
giving a turnout of almost 60 %. Upon the result, the weakening pope’s spokesman,
Joaquin Navarro-Valls, outed the words: "The Holy Father hopes that (...)
Poland can make a contribution with its moral and spiritual values and its
religious convictions” (Marchall). Still, in his worsening condition, John Paul
II kept the hope for his native country to continue standing up for European
Christian values, as it had always done.
The Vatican acknowledged Pope John Paul II was suffering from Parkinson disease
in 2003. Less than a year after the polish entrance to the European Union on the
1st of May 2004, the Polish pope passed away, on the 2nd
of April 2005.
Today, in
contemporary Poland, during the last months’ discussions, the critique of
“gender ideology” among fundamental Catholics has become intense. The “gender
ideology” could shortly be described as the 21st century version of
“culture of death”, with an even more sexual twist. Those new groups do not
seek to revive European roots of Catholicism, but on the contrary, they are
generally very negative towards European integration. (Chadwick). However, almost
a decade after the Polish inclusion in the European Union, the attitudes
towards Europe are still very positive, especially compared to other member
states’. According to the Eurobarometer of December 2013 it was shown that the
Poles both feel like citizens of the European Union, and are optimistic about
the future of the Union (10, 35).
Conclusion
As the first
Slavic pope, John Paul II started criticizing the Cold War division of Europe
between “west” and “east”. One of his mayor attempts was put on the ideas of
ecumenism, the unity of Christianity and its different churches. In doing this,
he saw Mitteleuropa as a bridge
between the two “spiritual lungs” of Europe. In Mitteleuropa Poland had a specific role in its “return to Europe”,
being more religious than the other Catholic countries behind the Iron Curtain.
Poland’s “return to Europe” was inevitable, since it had always belonged to
Europe’s western Christianity, Catholicism. In his attempts to stand up for his
native country and its religious right within the communist system, he paid
many visits to Poland, the most significant one in 1979. This pilgrimage is
often referred to as being the spark for the birth of the Solidarity-movement
in 1980. Throughout the decade the pope’s connections with the Catholic Church
in Poland and Solidarność remained strong. After “the fall of Communism” in 1989, the
focus of his visits was more on continuing the strive to keep “returning
to Europe”, which, in its new meaning came to mean more of a process than one
single event. One main focus during his papacy was that of culture as
the most powerful force of history. Culture was, in his belief, based on
religion. Therefore religious freedom was the most crucial component within
human rights. (Re)gained religious freedom and the presence of God in everyday
life was the key to peace, freedom and democracy. The Pope critized the “modern
humanism”, or later, the “culture of death”, based on secularism, liberalism
and the “rights of death” (abortion, death penalty and euthanasia), drifting
away from the cultural heritage of Europe. John Paul II, alongside with other
religious groups wanted to include a mentioning of “Europe’s Christian roots”
in the new European Constitution in the early 20th century, but
found themselves defeated by a more liberal view on the fundamental values of
the Union. For the Vatican, the only solution for the new Europe with the
“modern humanism” as its base, was the inclusion of Poland in the European
Union; the popes main argument for being pro-Europe. The news of the positive
outcome of the Polish referendum in June 2003 was warmly welcomed by the aging
pope.
One might
pose the question of what is then, actually, “European”, now, a decade later. The
John Paul-version of “religious freedom” was referring to those who were
actually, religious, this was made
clear in Evangelium Vitae, as the
secularism of the West was seen as the main for the “culture of death”. The
Polish school system is one of the few in Europe with a strong emphasis on
religious lessons, preferably and to the largest extent Catholic, but the
option of other beliefs is possible. However, pushing for an atheist, agnostic
or humanist approach of teaching children is hard. Religious freedom, in its
modern, liberal sense, would mean to include the right not to believe as well, a view implemented in most of the other
member states. Poland is also one of the few countries within the Union where
abortion is illegal, a law introduced during the 1990’s in Post-communist
Poland, with a strong influence from the Catholic right. In a feminist, liberal
view, maybe the only thing that went backward after communism?
So, with the thoughts of John Paul II, Poland would then be the only
“true European country”, yet today. However, his geopolitical thoughts of his
homeland being the savior of Europe as the Christ of nations seem to have
disappeared.
When
looking at Poland today it is inevitable not to see the importance of, and the
symbolism around, John Paul II. But his political views are not present they
way he intended them to be. The way I see it, the “culture of life”-attitude
lost its euro-enthusiasm on the way, now replacing it with critique of “gender”
and being very negative towards the Union.
Nevertheless, most Poles are Catholic and positive towards the EU. Maybe tendencies of being more
moderate, liberal, and increasingly secular (at least in urban areas) is the
true answer to Poland’s real “return to Europe”, adapting to its liberal,
“modern humanist”, neighbors.
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