Polish schoolchildren have protested a teacher’s removal of a Christian cross from a classroom and putting it in a bin, spurring a demonstration in front of the school.
At the same time, the justice ministry is drafting legislative changes to reduce penalties under Poland’s blasphemy legislation, sparking criticism that the government is reducing the protection afforded Christians.
The pupils’ demonstration came yesterday over an English language teacher who had demanded on December 15 the removal of the cross from a classroom she was teaching in. When the schoolchildren protested, she threw the cross into a bin.
The teacher’s behaviour in the Baltic coast township of Kielno led to action by the school’s headmaster. He suspended the teacher pending an investigation of the incident and the mayor of the municipality has reported the matter to the local public prosecutor.
In Poland, the Christian cross is a protected symbol and the country has on its statute book legislation which criminalises blasphemy, with offences liable for prison sentences.
Yesterday morning, a demonstration in support of the school students was staged outside of the school. Conservative activists and politicians linked to the opposition Conservatives (PiS) and the right-wing Confederation of the Polish Crown took part.
One of the parents attending said there was a need to support the school students who had stood up for their faith.
“Young heroes remind us, adults, that one must not desert a just cause – especially the defence of the cross,” she said.
The demonstrators carried banners stating that “destroying the cross = lack of tolerance”; “Do not be afraid”; “ Poland has a choice: Either the cross or the crescent” and “The cross = the foundation of our faith”.
PiS MP Dorota Arciszewska-Mielewczyk told portal Niezalezna that there was a need to stand up for Christian values.
“We came with a certain baggage of values; we are not ashamed to defend at every step the values we profess. The cross is our sign.
“We are Christians, Catholics, we go to church, baptise our children, receive Communion and we will not allow the symbol of our faith, our cultural heritage, our national heritage to be desecrated,” Arciszewska-Mielewczyk said.
“There is no place here for breaking the law to destroy the symbols of our culture, our faith, our love of God.
“Today we are demonstrating unity with parents who had the courage, with the parents of children who had even greater courage, to say ‘no’ to a teacher who should be teaching respect for every religion,” she added.
During Communist times, state authorities ordered the Christian cross to be removed from schools and other public buildings, angering most of the population. The crosses returned when Communism ended.
Barbara Nowacka, the education minister in the centre-left government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, told broadcaster TVN24 that disciplinary measures have been taken against the teacher. She said her conduct was “inadmissible by any social norm”, adding that, regardless of individual beliefs, the cross is an important symbol.
“The feelings of both the majority and minority must be respected,” Nowacka said.
Meanwhile, justice minister Waldemar Żurek told reporters his ministry is drafting an amendment to Poland’s blasphemy law to remove imprisonment from the catalogue of penalties for the offence of insulting religious feelings.
According to the ministry the move is intended to comply with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In 2022, it had ruled against Poland for violating the rights of Polish pop star Dorota Rabczewska, known as “Doda”, when she was convicted of blasphemy in 2012.
Doda was found guilty of offending religious feelings during an interview in which she said it was “difficult to believe in” the Bible as it was “written by someone wasted from drinking wine and smoking weed”.
She was fined €1,200, a penalty the ECHR ruled was “particularly severe”.
Any change in the blasphemy law is unlikely to be supported by the opposition PiS-aligned President Karol Nawrocki. Without that approval no legislative change can come into effect.
When last in government between 2015 and 2023 PiS had tightened the blasphemy legislation.
Żurek’s plans to soften the blasphemy law have been criticised by conservative legal think-tank Ordo Iuris. It argues that the loosening of legislation will send a signal that related offences will no longer be taken seriously and will encourage religious conflict and attacks on Christians.
Liberal lawyers, though, have argued that the ministry’s proposals do not go far enough and that the blasphemy law should be abolished altogether.
That, they said, was because Polish law already includes provisions that criminalise violence, threats and abuse that is religiously motivated and the existing law is a threat to freedom of expression.
