Lower house of parliament (Sejm): photo - sejm.gov.pl
Andrzej Rozenek, spokesman for anti-clerical party Your Movement has argued that if there is to be a parliamentary resolution, then it should highlight the political impact of the late Polish pontiff.
“As a state institution, the Polish parliament is not supposed to deal with various kinds of religious acts,” he argued.
“If we want to celebrate Karol Wojtyla, then let's celebrate him as a person who contributed to the recovery of independence in 1989,” he said.
Junior coalition partner the Polish Peasants Party had hoped that its resolution would be unanimously approved by all parties in the lower house of parliament.
At present, the resolution states that “on the eve of the canonisation of Pope John Paul II, Head of the Universal Church and a Great Pole, the Polish parliament expresses its joy and gratitude at this historic event.”
However, the Democratic Left Alliance has also raised doubts about the resolution.
“We have always been for the separation of Church and state,” said party spokesman Dariusz Jonski.
“We don't want the state to get mixed up in Church matters, nor the Church in political ones,” he added.
“We take on board the solemnity of the occasion at the Vatican, but the issue is controversial, and opinions are divided here.”
Pope John Paul II's first visit as pontiff to his native land in the summer of 1979 came just months before the creation of the Solidarity trade union.
Historians argue that the visit as a catalyst for change in communist-ruled Poland, with millions of Poles discovering a sense of solidarity that influenced later anti-regime activities.
After the Solidarity trade union was created in 1980, Pope John Paul II supported it throughout the decade, meeting with leader Lech Walesa, and raising the profile of the movement on the international stage.
Representatives of Poland's political parties are due to discuss objectiions to the resolution on Tuesday. (nh)
Source: PAP