The latest court ruling has sparked a major controversy, with Education and Science Minister Przemysław Czarnek labeling the decision a potent insult to common courtesy. Earlier this week, a Poznań court acquitted 32 individuals who led a protest at Poznań Cathedral in 2020, after interrupting a Mass with banners addressing reproductive rights.
On Monday, the Poznań District Court for Nowe Miasto and Wilda acquitted 32 people who stood before the altar during October 2020 Mass at Poznań Cathedral. Their banners carried messages related to the right to abortion. The cathedral’s parish priest, Fr. Ireneusz Szwarc, halted the celebration for the moment as part of the service.
“It’s one big scandal. I would ask the court what would happen if I walked into the courtroom and offered my own opinions on various topics and made my voice heard in that setting,” Czarnek told reporters in Poznań on Wednesday.
Czarnek: If the court tolerates rudeness, it’s a major scandal
The church is a place of prayer, and any intrusion into that space is, at minimum, extreme disrespect. If the court allows or even backs up such behavior within its judgments, it becomes a significant breach of trust, according to the minister of education and science.
The case before the Poznań District Court concerned events from October 2020, when the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that a provision allowing abortion in cases of high probability of severe and irreversible fetal damage or an incurable illness threatening the life of the fetus violated the Polish constitution.
Following the verdict, demonstrations erupted in several Polish cities in opposition to the Constitutional Tribunal’s decision. In Poznań Cathedral, participants moved toward the altar after reading the Gospel, chanting slogans like “We’ve had enough!” and displaying banners reading “Catholic women need abortion too,” “Catholic you are not alone,” and other anti-clerical messages. Flyers were tossed and clapping broke out among the crowd. Prosecutors had charged 32 individuals with “joint and concerted malicious obstruction of the public performance of a religious act.” The charge carries potential fines, restricted freedom, or up to two years’ imprisonment. The defendants maintained their innocence.
In its verdict, the court stated that the evidence did not prove malicious intent among the protesters who aimed to express dissatisfaction with the tribunal’s ruling. The judges noted that while the protesters voiced discontent, they did so with a sense of solemnity and respect for the sacred space, choosing the sermon as the moment to stage their protest. The banners’ messages were deemed not to incite hatred or attack religion in an offensive manner.
The ruling signaled that the acts were not proven to be malicious beyond reasonable doubt, and observers described the demonstrations as a peaceful form of civil expression. The decision has stirred debate about the balance between religious spaces, political expression, and the rights of individuals to voice opposition within public forums.
— Jacek Karnowski: The court in Poznań is now official: Catholics have been outlawed. so-called “caste” touches the foundations of the rule of law it purports to defend
— They entered the church, covered the altar with banners during Holy Mass, yet the court acquitted them. Was it a mistake to call it malice?
— A controversial verdict in Poznań. The Archdiocese released a statement in response to the decision and Archbishop Gądecki’s remarks on what he called distinct acts of religious desecration
Source attribution: wPolityce