Fierce dispute between Polish Government and the Church.
A retired Polish Catholic bishop launched an unusually scathing attack on the Warsaw government’s migration and education policies during the Jasna Góra pilgrimage. Wiesław Mering’s statement – that “Poland today is ruled by political gangsters” – has sparked a political storm, prompting the government to send a letter of protest to the Vatican.
By Róbert Gönczi
Bishop’s Warning at the Pilgrimage
At the annual Jasna Góra pilgrimage in July 2025 – organised by the Catholic Radio Maryja – a homily was delivered that ignited a fresh church–state conflict in Poland. Wiesław Mering, retired bishop of the Diocese of Włocławek, declared in his sermon that “Poland today is ruled by political gangsters” – a reference to Donald Tusk’s liberal government. Mering claimed he was merely “quoting Tusk’s own words”, as the Prime Minister had previously used the same phrase himself – albeit in a completely different context.
The bishop went on to assert that “we are ruled by people who call themselves German”, quoting the 17th-century poet Wacław Potocki: Jak świat światem, nie będzie Niemiec Polakowi bratem (“a German will never be a Pole’s brother”), in an allusion to historic Polish–German mistrust. He stressed that Poland’s borders are under threat – from the east by the migrant crisis stirred up by Belarus, and from the west by mass deportations of migrants from Germany.
Mering insisted that “Poland – the homeland, the culture, and the tradition – must be defended consciously and bravely” because the current government endangers them. He argued that “barbarism is destroying the schools” after patriotic content was removed from the curriculum – even claiming that “some members of the government accuse Poles of building the Auschwitz concentration camp”. The bishop warned that “the Islamisation of Europe through mass migration has been under way for decades”, and that in Poland “what has already happened in Western Europe is only now beginning”. He added that “politics without Christ is the greatest calamity that can befall a nation”, and maintained that the Church has both the right and the duty to make its voice heard in public life.
Identity and Education Policy
Mering’s homily also attacked specific government measures. He criticised the education ministry for removing national-patriotic themes from the syllabus and cutting the number of Catholic religion lessons in schools. Education Minister Barbara Nowacka’s decision will see optional religious education reduced from two hours to one per week from September 2025, which the government says is due to declining demand. However, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled the reduction unconstitutional, arguing that the move should have been agreed with the Church.
Church leaders contend that scaling back religious education and omitting “nation-building” content from the curriculum weakens Polish identity. “Even if the Tusk government insists on its democratic mandate, the Church’s concern is understandable,” notes one analysis, warning that curtailing religious instruction and capitulating to illegal migration could push the country into a deep identity crisis in the long run.
Other clerics voiced their concerns at the pilgrimage. Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, influential head of Radio Maryja, sharply criticised Minister Nowacka over the reduction in religion classes, warning that “we must not allow our faith to be taken from us”, as weakening religion would be followed by “the destruction of the nation”, alongside the advance of Islamisation and gender ideology. Nowacka rejected these accusations, stressing that there was no question of abolishing religious education, only a reasonable adjustment.
Government Response and Diplomatic Row
Following Mering’s remarks, the Warsaw government promptly rejected the Church’s criticism. Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote on Twitter that he was “outraged that refugees are being incited against in the name of a Church whose founder was himself a refugee”. Soon afterwards, the Polish foreign ministry lodged an official protest with the Vatican, describing the bishop’s statements at Jasna Góra as “harmful and misleading”.
The note claimed that the prelates had “called into question fundamental national loyalty” and thereby “slandered” the democratically elected government, in breach of the political neutrality clause of the Polish–Vatican concordat. The Vatican has yet to respond. Foreign observers noted that in a modern European democracy, it is unprecedented for a government to seek to hold a bishop accountable through diplomatic channels. This dispute has driven Church–state relations in Poland to their lowest point in years.
In Sikorski’s case, it is notable that his wife, American historian and human rights activist Anne Applebaum, works for The Atlantic magazine, funded by Laurene Powell Jobs – a benefactor who has also contributed significantly to the campaigns of US Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. This international and ideological background helps explain why many perceive foreign interests behind the Tusk government’s migration and foreign policy moves.
Public Reaction and Division
The affair has provoked strong reactions in Polish public life, even dividing the Catholic community. Many believers defended Mering, saying he had spoken the truth in defence of national values, while other clerics condemned his harsh rhetoric. Prominent Catholic journalist Tomasz Terlikowski called Mering’s words “foolish and scandalous”, arguing they were “irreconcilable with the teaching of the Gospel”. The liberal side claims the Church wields excessive political influence, having amassed significant power since the fall of communism.
The “political gangsters” controversy has opened a new chapter in a long-running ideological struggle. In Poland, the battle of values between conservatives who emphasise national identity and sovereignty, and advocates of globalisation and an open society model, has raged for years. Mering’s provocative words and the government’s response are a reflection of that struggle. “The Mering affair is yet another symptom of the deep division rooted in the tension between national identity and globalisation in the country,” concludes the aforementioned analysis. Although the Tusk government seeks to dispel suspicions of “foreign interests” influencing its actions, the “gangsters” row has only deepened the rift.