Man charged with offending religious feelings and insulting monument for pope statue vandalism

A man has been detained on suspicion of being behind the recent vandalism of a statue of Pope John Paul II in the city of Łódź. He has been charged with “offending religious feelings” and “insulting a monument”, crimes in Poland that could result in a prison sentence of up to two years.

The incident in question took place last weekend on the 18th anniversary of the Polish pope’s death. It followed recent claims made by a TV investigation and a book that John Paul II was negligent in dealing with child sex abuse by members of the clergy when he was archbishop of Kraków.

The statue, which is located on Łódź’s famous Piotrowska Street, had red paint – often used to symbolise blood – doused on its hands and yellow paint on its face (assumed to be a reference to a popular meme among young Poles that the pope’s face has a yellow tinge in some images).

The words “Maxima Culpa” – which is the title of the new book on John Paul II’s response to child sex abuse in the church – were also stencilled onto the pedestal of the statue.

The incident was condemned by the church authorities and also by many politicians, especially those linked to Poland’s conservative ruling coalition, which has sought to defend John Paul II from the recent accusations against him.

The police also began an investigation, including securing CCTV footage from the location. This morning, they announced that an unnamed 25-year-old man, a resident of Łódź, had been detained.

In the afternoon, prosecutors confirmed that he had been charged with offending religious feelings and insulting a monument. “The suspect is facing up to two years in prison,” said Krzysztof Kopania, spokesman for the district prosecutor’s office, quoted by state broadcaster TVP.

Kopania noted that a search of the suspect’s residence had led to the discovery of items that support the validity of the accusations against him. “Activities aimed at identifying accomplices are being continued,” he added.

Poland has a set of defamation and insult laws that are among the broadest and strictest in any democratic country, according to a study by the OSCE. As well as offending religious feelings and insulting a monument, it is also a criminal offence to insult the president, state emblems and even the Polish nation itself.

Experts have noted that such laws, in particular those relating to blasphemy, have been increasingly used in recent years under the current conservative government. The justice minister is currently seeking to also make “publicly insulting or ridiculing the church” a jailable offence.

In 2020, a group of LGBT activists were detained on suspicion of insulting monuments and offending religious feelings for hanging rainbow flags on statues, including one of Jesus Christ.

Main image credit: Archidiecezja Łódzka/Facebook

Daniel Tilles

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.