Poland: The Majority of Citizens are for the Crucifix in Parliament
The vast majority of Poles still favor the presence of the crucifix in Parliament. According to a survey by TNS OBOP and published on October 18, 2011 by the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, 70% of respondents are in favor and only 20% oppose it.
The survey found that 84% of Poles are in favor of keeping the cross in hospitals and 72% in schools. The presence of religious symbols, however, is much less well supported by politicians: 53% for and 41% against.
Receiving over 10% of votes in the elections on October 9, the anti-clerical political party Palikot (see DICI 242), however, demands the removal of crucifixes from Parliament. “Poland must be a secular state and that includes Parliament,” said its president, Janusz Palikot on October 12. He expressed a readiness to appeal to the Constitutional Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights.
His request is reminiscent of a debate that took place in 2010 regarding a cross commemorating the plane crash in Smolensk (Russia), where Polish President Lech Kaczynski died. That cross was installed outside the presidential palace in Warsaw. The current president, Bronislaw Komorowski, had it removed. (Sources: apic / kna - DICI No. 243 of 28/10/11)
