Poland’s Catholic church has withdrawn the dispensation put in place during the pandemic that allowed the faithful not to attend mass. Consciously failing to attend is therefore once again a mortal sin, warns the archbishop of Kraków.
Unlike in many European countries, places of worship have remained open throughout the pandemic in Poland, though with limits on attendance and other sanitary measures in place.
However, last March, during the first wave of coronavirus, the Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP) approved special dispensation that allowed the faithful to miss mass without it being a sin. In the summer that was partially withdrawn, with only certain vulnerable groups exempt from attending.
Last autumn and this spring, as infections rose rapidly during the second and third waves, bishops reintroduced dispensations. But as of yesterday, with cases having once again dropped to relatively low levels, they have been completely lifted across the country, announced the KEP.
“The faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on the days prescribed, unless they are justified for an important reason (e.g. sickness, caring for an infant) or have received a dispensation from their own pastor,” wrote the archbishop of Kraków, Marek Jędraszewski. “Those who voluntarily neglect this duty commit a mortal sin.”
“The sanitary conditions have changed and now it is possible to freely participate in the Eucharist,” informed the Archdiocese of Warsaw. Since 13 June, places of worship have been allowed to use up to 50% of their seating space, which rises to 75% this Saturday.
“Inability to physically participate in the Holy Mass was a very difficult experience, both for the lay faithful and the clergy,” said a spokesman for Katowice Archdiocese. “We are glad that we can gradually return to this new normality…[but] let us remember about the sanitary regulations still in force.”
“The Eucharist is the centre of the church’s life and contains all its spiritual good,” wrote the bishop of Warszawa-Praga, Romuald Kamiński. “Participation is not only an obligation arising from the commandments, but also a loving meeting with Jesus Christ, the doctor of our souls and bodies.”
Last year, amid pressure for places of worship to be closed due to the pandemic, the head of the episcopate, Stanisław Gądecki, argued that “churches are something like hospitals for the soul” and should remain open.
Earlier this month, he wrote to the prime minister to “insist on” the loosening of restrictions on church attendance, saying that the limits then in place were violating people’s “inalienable human right” to practise their religious faith. A few days later, the government announced that it would allow more people into churches.
Main image credit: EpiskopatNews/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
