094 - Man in a Box (or 'Lublin Shroud')

094 - Man in a Box (or 'Lublin Shroud'), originally uploaded by gingerpig2000.

One of the problems Poland suffers from is the general inability of priests to accept their responsibility in the present day; they want to live in a past where their parishioners came to them for help, or so they would want you to believe. This would not matter, if it were not for the effect on society.

Back during the communist era the church felt it could justifiably oppose the sate by selling the 'family values' line to counter the community level action they felt that the communists where pushing. After all, if everyone figured out what to do at the community level, what would have been left to the priests? Gladly or sadly, the communists in power had no real desire for community action, it would have undermined their own, so people were left with two hierarchies above them, one with control over the body and the other with control over the soul. These days the threat of direct government control in one's daily life has largely receded, but the Roman Catholic church with its 'family values' line has become largely resplendent in its power, or would be if it were not for the actions of a few pesky priests and a slight but general drift away from the church.

The family value principal is based on getting people to care for their own family, but without much guidance in how to achieve this. The result is instead of a vibrant church where people in a community are aware of their neighbours, everyone stands or sits together in the church, eyes to the front, and no help if you are in difficulty. No welcome, no goodbye, just programmed responses and a loos of attention 5 minutes into the sermon.

I have a friend who is not Polish, and in his time here has become completely alienated from the RC church - who ignores him as the basic principal is that priests do not come to you without your express begging - you go to them for help. Priests have no real idea what people feel or if they are in distress, they only come around to your door but once a year to sit for a few minutes and, generally, take an envelope of money away with them.

This friend twice in December responded to separate incidents where an old person in a flat elsewhere in the block had fallen and was trying to get help by banging on the floor. This was ignored by everyone but this foreigner, even though one incident occurred on Christmas Eve when other people were still up and celebrating.

The RC church here teaches that 'bad things come from the West' and that they should call back their children who have gone to the West to find work because their souls are at risk in the West. If you were not born to a Polish family, let me tell you that the values, if any, that you learnt from your family are not values at all, only the Polish family is a true family. Poland is the Christ of all nations.

Poland needs help, but the priesthood is by and large making sure that it does not get that help. They could learn from the mistakes other nations have made, but they would rather just make the people feel guilty if they wander away from the family table, unless it is to visit the Church.

Three definitions one can apply from society here are:

Leadership: You do what you're told.
Responsibility: Why does not someone else fix this?
Freedom of Speech: Don't you dare make anyone outside aware that there is a problem.