Polish official who removed cross from public office acquitted of insulting religious sentiment

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A provincial governor who ordered the removal of a Christian cross from a public hall has been found not guilty of offending religious feelings, a crime in Poland that carries a prison sentence of up to two years. A public “office is not a church”, said the judge in his ruling.

The official in question is a member of Poland’s main ruling party, the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), and was appointed to his position by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The case against him was filed as a private indictment by a local politician from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Poland’s main opposition.

The administration of each of Poland’s 16 provinces is headed by a governor (wojewoda) appointed by the prime minister. When the current government came to power in December, Tusk appointed Krzysztof Komorski to the position in the Lublin province of eastern Poland.

One of his first actions was to order the removal of a crucifix hanging in a room at the provincial administrative offices, the Column Hall, used for public meetings. He argued that a space which is used by people of various faiths and cultures should be neutral.

Komorski, who is himself a Christian, noted that the cross had simply been moved to another room in the building. Nevertheless, the incident sparked strong criticism from PiS politicians, who accused him variously of being a “barbarian” and “totalitarian”.

A member of the party, Tytus Czartoryski, who is a local politician in a different part of Poland, along with a resident of Lublin, Elżbieta Puacz, launched a private indictment against Komorski – accusing him of exceeding his authority and offending religious feelings – after public prosecutors refused to take up the case.

Puacz argued in court that the cross is a symbol of the Christian faith, which is followed by a majority of people in Poland. The governor, as a public official, should serve society, but instead he had removed the cross “without considering the values ​​represented by the residents of the Lublin region”.

However, the judge, Bernard Domaradzki, disagreed, finding Komorski innocent, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Domaradzki noted that, although crosses commonly hang in public buildings in Poland, there are no generally applicable provisions of law regulating their display nor any specifically in Lublin province. Therefore, there are no grounds for finding that Komorski exceeded his authority.

The judge noted that the constitution of Poland defines the country’s coat of arms (a crowned white eagle on a white background) as a national symbol but does not mention the cross in this context. Indeed, it states that the nation includes all citizens, regardless of whether they are religious believers or not.

Domaradzki also found that moving the cross did not constitute an offence to religious feeling because the item was not subjected to any kind of profanation.

“An office is not a church, and the Column Hall is not an altar,” said the judge, quoted by PAP. “The fact that the plaintiffs feel offended by such an action does not mean that, objectively speaking, such an insult to an object of religious worship occurred”

He noted that the plaintiffs were not able to point to any provisions of church law or the Gospels indicating an obligation to display a cross in a public office.

By contrast, Komorski’s defence had cited Jesus’s famous remarks on the separation between secular and religious authority: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

In his 22-minute oral justification, the judge also lamented that the “source of these disputes is increasing polarisation and hatred against each other”, reports local newspaper Kurier Lubelski. “Instead of focusing on what should unite us, we focus on what divides us.”

Komorski himself told the newspaper that he “does not feel like a winner” after the verdict, saying that the case had been brought for “purely political” reasons and was “a very dangerous initiative because it appropriates religion and Christian values ​​for one party”.

The court’s decision can still be appealed, and afterwards Czartoryski indicated that he would do so. He said that Komorski had shown “fundamental disrespect for those entrusted to the governor’s care”.

Poland’s law against offending religious feelings has regularly been used, including against politicians. Last year, the Supreme Court acquitted Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, a politician from the ruling coalition, of the crime in relation to a protest she led in a church against Poland’s near-total abortion ban.

While still in opposition, Tusk called for the removal of religious symbols from public buildings, including a cross that hangs in the main chamber of parliament. However, no such action has been launched at the national level since his government took office.

But Warsaw’s mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, who is a deputy leader of Tusk’s party, last year banned the display of religious symbols in city hall, making his the first city in Poland to do so.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Ivan S/Pexels

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.