The most recent data, recently published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, should be viewed with the utmost care. They speak of a real demographic collapse that has hit our nation, the Archbishop of Krakow, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, wrote in a letter for Lent.
In addition to the need to open up to parenthood, the hierarch also drew attention to the value of religious education in schools and the need to take care of the homeland.
Religion in school
Writing about these three issues, the metropolitan referred to the words Jesus said to Satan in the desert: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”, “You shall not worship the Lord your God.” on the test”, “The Lord, you shall worship your God, and Him alone shall you serve” (Gospel of Matthew).
Recalling the first of these sentences, the Metropolitan drew attention to the issue of religion in schools. According to him, these lessons serve to open us to God and therefore also to other people. attitudes of interpersonal solidarity and willingness to actively participate in charitable giving.
Looking holistically at the complex and difficult process of shaping each young person’s personality, it is difficult to overstate the importance of religious education in schools.
– said Archbishop Jędraszewski.
As he emphasized, “Parents and grandparents, as well as teachers and educators, as well as the whole community of the Church, must do everything in their power to strengthen children and youth in the conviction of the great importance of attending religious classes. Such a duty is imposed on the parents – writes the hierarch – by a declaration during the sacrament of marriage that “they wish to accept and educate their offspring with love and Catholicism”.
The priest drew attention to the voices that question the value of religious education at the expense of other subjects. He recalled the words of St. John Paul II, pronounced in 1991 in Włocławek:
“Catechesis is one of the essential forms of proclamation of the word of God, and therefore all Christians (…) bear the responsibility for it. And this obligation corresponds to the right to educate and educate children and youth according to the principles of their own religion.
Demographic collapse
Recalling the words of Jesus “Thou shalt not put the Lord thy God to the test,” he referred to parenthood. As he noted, motherhood and fatherhood are both a blessing and a duty from God. The fate of nations and humanity depended and still depends on openness to parenthood and a willingness to fulfill parental duties, the hierarch noted.
The latest data, recently released by the Central Bureau of Statistics, should be viewed with great care: they speak of a real demographic collapse that has hit our country. More than 800,000 people have died in Poland in the past 10 years. families, and the number of children born last year was the smallest since the end of World War II at just 305,000, 27,000 more than the previous year. less than in 2021
– wrote Archbishop Jędraszewski.
According to him, the current demographic situation has been influenced by “the way a large family is presented in contemporary culture and the media, often ridiculed and stigmatized”, but also by “the message about the need to realize yourself”, creating a career, living in the present. According to the metropolitan, people for whom their children are the greatest happiness and pride are rarely shown.
Judas silversmiths
He quoted Christ’s last words to Satan in the wilderness (“You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve”), drawing attention to the need to care for the homeland.
… in the history of our homeland there were often people who, at the price of the power and rule promised to them by the enemies of Poland, became its tragic traitors. This was especially true in the eighteenth century, and so it has been in our recent history. Even today, the goods of the Commonwealth are sold for the silver pieces of Judas. The freedom of our nation and state and our 1,050-year-old Christian identity are then mortally threatened.
– wrote Archbishop Jędraszewski.
He encouraged the faithful to participate in prayers for the Fatherland organized in the Archdiocese of Krakow on the first Saturday and on the 14th of each month – such prayers began in December 2022 and will last until November 2023.
olk/PAP
Source: wPolityce