New Church-state tensions in Poland
Warsaw, Feb. 13, 2008

(CWNews.com) - Polish government officials met on February 13 with representatives of the Catholic Church to discuss four items: pro-family politics, in-vitro fertilization, religion classes in public schools, and the declaration of the feast of Epiphany as a national holiday.

The meeting comes at a time of some tension between Polish political leaders and the Catholic hierarchy. The Dziennik newspaper reports that a Polish vice president of the European Union Parliament, Marek Siwiec of the Party of European Socialists, criticized Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek for his statements of opposition to sex education in public schools and government funding of contraception-- two projects that have been advanced by the current government. Siwiec likened Bishop Pieronek's views to those of Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the highly controversial founder of Radio Maryja. the rest