Focuses on the conference entitled `Examination of Conscience: the Polish church Confronts Anti-Semitism, 1989-1999,\u27 held on January 20 at the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California

Oppenheim, Bohdan W.

Rausch, Thomas P.

English

Loyola Marymount University

Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount Universityand Loyola Law SchoolTheological Studies Faculty Works Theological Studies7-31-1999The Polish Church Examines Its ConscienceBohdan W. OppenheimLoyola Marymount University, boppenheim@lmu.eduThomas P. RauschLoyola Marymount University, trausch@lmu.eduThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Theological Studies at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and LoyolaLaw School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theological Studies Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@LoyolaMarymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lmu.edu.Repository CitationOppenheim, Bohdan W. and Rausch, Thomas P., "The Polish Church Examines Its Conscience" (1999). Theological Studies FacultyWorks. 247.http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/theo_fac/247Recommended CitationOppenheim, Bohdan D and Thomas P. Rausch. “The Polish Church Examines Its Conscience,” America 181 (1999): 19-20.A small minority of Poles has moved toward nationalism,fundamentalist Catholicism, fear of the West, the searchfor scapegoats and, especially troubling,open anti-Semitism,The Polish ChurchExamines ItsConscienceBy BOHDAN E. OPPENHEIMand THOMAS P. RAUSCHPOPE JOHN PAUL II IS DETERMINED that thebeginning of the new millennium be observedas a "Great Jubilee." a religious event, a time ofprayer and celebration. To make this jubilee concrete,he has called on Catholics throughout the world to makean "examination of conscience" about various sins andoffenses comtnitted in the name of the church through-out history. Among those sins and offenses, he hasspecifically mentioned the treatment of Jews. Twoconferences have been held recently in response. Aninternational conference on "Jesuits and Jews" took placein Krakow, Poland, Dec. 27-31, 1998. Another, entitl-ed "Examination of Conscience: The Polish ChurchCotifronts Anti-Semilism, 1989-1999," was held on Jan.20 on the campus of Loyola Marymount University inLos Angeles.The Los Angeles conference examined how the churchin Poland has dealt with episodes of anti-Semitism inPoland during the past 10 years, since the collapse ofCommunism in Polarid in 1989. The focus was on thisperiod for two reasons. First, anti-Semitic rhetoric hasincreased significantly during this period in some circlesin Poland. The last decade has been a time of dramaticeconomic and social upheavals that have polarized thatsociety. While the majority of Poles have begun thejourney toward Western structures, NATO, democrat-ization and liberalization, a small minority has moved inthe opposite direction toward nationalism, fundamental-ist Catholicism, fear of the West and of any liberalism, theBOHDAN W. OPPENHEIM AND THOMAS P.RAUSCH, S.J., are professors at Loyola MarymountUniversity in Los Angeles.search for scapegoats and, especially troubling, open anti-Semitism. Recently, this small minority has become veryvisible and embarrassing to both the Government and thechurch. The minority identifies itself with the church andreceives a degree of support from some clergy and evenfrom several bishops. A second reason for the conferenceis that, for the first time in 50 years, the Polish churchis free to speak and act without pressure from externalpowers.The conference was conceived and organized by BohdanW. Oppenheim. professor of Mechanical Engineeringat Loyola Marymount. Assisting him were the Polish con-AMERICA JULY 31, 1999 19sul general, tbe Hon. Maciej Krych, and the Polish culturalconsul, the Hon. Pawel Potoroczyn, both in Los Angeles,as well as Iwona Liczbanska of Loyola Marymount. WitoldCzajkowski from the National Polish American-JewishAmerican Council, and Stanislaw Obirek, S.J., from Krak-ow. Participants in the panel included Bishop TadeuszPieronek, former Secretary General of the Polish Episco-pate and now the President of the Pontifical Academy ofTheology in Krakow; Adam Michnik, editor of the influen-tial Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza; Krzysztof Kozlowski,a senator from Warsaw and editor of Tygodnik Powszech-ny, the liberal Polish Catholic weekly; Andrzej Korbonski,a professor of political science atU.C.L.A.; Piotr Wrobel. a historianfrom the University of Toronto,who served as the moderator; andThomas Rausch, S.J., chair of the-ological studies at L.M.U. All par-ticipants represented only them-selves.Initially intended as a quietscholarly event, the conferencetook on an entirely different dim-ension after Edward Moskal, Pres-ident of the Polish American Con-gress, attacked the organizers andpanelists in the Polish-Americanethnic media. He alleged thatthe conference would be another"bashing of Poland, Poles, Polonia and the Polish church."During the next several months. Moskal and his supportersattempted to torpedo the conference, writing open letters tothe president, prime minister and foreign minister of Poland,Polish diplomats in the U.S., Polish Parliament deputies,members of the Polish episcopate, as well as to members ofthe administration at Loyola Marymount University. InPoland, representatives of the right-wing media and vadouspoliticians picked up the attack and started collecting signa-tures protesting the conference. Despite these efforts, theconference took place as planned..HE CONFERENCE BEGAN with a review of PopeJohn Paul II's call for a jubilee celebration. Then ProfessorKorbonski presented the bill of charges directed against theCatholic Church in Poland by the media for recent mistakesthat have contributed to the Hse of anti-Semitism, particular-ly the issues surrounding the Carmelite convent and tbecrosses at Auschwitz, as well as some provocative state-ments of the Rev. Henryk Jankowski, a controversial priestin Gdansk. He asked why the church bas failed to take a suf-ficiently strong stand in fighting anti-Semitism, considedngits influential status in Poland.Bishop Pieronek, whose participation was personal ratherthan official, agreed that anti-Semitic incidents by churchmembers occurred and that the Polish church has a long wayto go, but he also said that the journey it has entered upon isthe correct one. He outlined a number of significant new ini-tiatives, not well known in the United States, taken by thePolish church for dialogue and reconciliation with Jews. Heacknowledged that be was in favor of stronger actions thanthose undertaken in the past to discipline some openly anti-Semitic priests. In response to one questioner, he agreed thata new pastoral letter from the bishops reaifuming that anti-Semitism is a sin against God and humanity would be verybeneficial at this time.ENATOR KOZLOWSKI UNDERLINED the con-trast between the well-intentionedactions of political and church lead-ers in fighting anti-Semitism andthe reactions of those who are lesseducated and even of some mem-bers of the clergy. "Anti-Semitismin Poland can be found among verysimple people, among educatedones, also among the clergy and inthe church." He expressed regretthat "there is too much tolerance foranti-Semitic expressions in thesociety. Nevertheless, it is not a ma-jority; it is even not a dominatingtendency." He underscored the vast-ly increasing interest in Jewish cul-ture in Poland, like book publica-tions, festivals and cultural events.Adam Michnik presented an in-depth social and histori-cal analysis of anti-Semitism in Poland, which is differentfrom anti-Semitism elsewhere. It is no longer religious innature, and has little to do with real Jews, but has changedto a mix of Polish hypersensitivity on this subject, deep his-torical wounds, a defensive posture against stereotypes andthe search for scapegoats. His extraordinary sense of humorgave the audience a better insight into this complex prob-lem, and provided some lighter moments.The conference registration exceeded 140, mostly PolishAmericans, both Jews and Catholics, as well as members oftbe Jewish community from across the United States, in-cluding vice presidents from the Holocaust Museum andthe American Jewish Congress. The reaction to the confer-ence has been enthusiastic. The organizers have received 20laudatory letters and congratulations from both Catholicsand Jews. Leopold Page, whose story served as the basis forthe book and movie "Schindler's List," stated: "I must con-gratulate Professor Oppenbeim for creating this conferenceand our guests for presenting their higb-level lectures, andfor putting out the hand that searches for the reconciliationbetween the Catholics and Jews and makes their relations ata higher level than they bave been." Dr. Andrzej Bytnerow-icz wrote: "The conference was a great idea. In my opinion,this kind of meeting at universities, with participation ofrespected moral and intellectual authorities is conducive toa dialog." n20 AMERICA JULY 31, 1999

The Polish Church Examines Its Conscience

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The Polish Church Examines Its Conscience

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