Just a few years ago, stories of Islamists attacking Christians with the cry of “Allah Akbar” on their lips reached us only from Germany, France, or the United Kingdom. We lived under the illusory belief that we were safe in Poland. The past few months have shown that this danger has now come to Poland as well.
A Muslim man attacked a paramedic because he did not like the cross around his neck
The Ordo Iuris Institute has provided legal protection to a paramedic from Lublin who was giving medical assistance to a Muslim man from Kazakhstan.
At first, the foreigner behaved calmly. The situation changed dramatically, however, when the Kazakh man saw that the paramedic was wearing a medallion with a cross around his neck.
The man instantly flew into a rage. First he began shouting loudly in his own language, then in Russian. In vulgar words, he insulted Christ and shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is great).
He then punched the paramedic in the larynx, causing severe internal injuries.
Ordo Iuris lawyers are representing the injured paramedic. We will demand a severe penalty before the court. We will also make sure that the migrant is unconditionally deported from Poland.
For now, the Kazakh citizen has been detained and is being held in a guarded center for refugees. He has already been charged with assaulting a public official and with using violence on account of the victim’s religion. This is very important, because in many similar cases prosecutors have overlooked the religious motivation behind such aggression.
We are intervening in Choszczno to defend an assaulted priest
This is not the only case of a brutal attack on a Polish Christian in recent months. Our lawyers also intervened in Choszczno, where a 28-year-old man assaulted an elderly priest outside a church.
The assailant approached the clergyman and struck him on the head. When a church caretaker rushed to the priest’s aid, the attacker knocked him to the ground, struck him several times with his fist, and, when he tried to get up, kicked him in the head.
The man was detained by the police and confessed to the crime.
Ordo Iuris lawyers are representing the assaulted clergyman in the case.
Initially, prosecutors imposed only police supervision on the assailant, together with a ban on contacting or approaching the victims. Ultimately, however, the prosecutor filed a motion for pretrial detention, and the court granted it.
Through our Christianophobia Monitoring Center, we organized a meeting in Choszczno devoted to Christianophobia, which was attended by the priest who had been beaten.
We are responding to a desecration in Białystok
But that is still not all…
Our lawyers are also providing legal assistance to the parish priest of one of Białystok’s parishes, where a church was desecrated in a repugnant manner.
A hooded man burst into the church, approached the altar, spat a red substance onto it, tore the cross from the altar, threw it at the tabernacle, and made obscene, vulgar gestures in front of a painting depicting the Last Supper.
The perpetrator has already been detained by the police. This is the beginning of serious work for our lawyers, who must ensure that this time the courts do not treat the offender leniently.
We are defending an assaulted nun
The fourth of these recent cases again involves aggression by a migrant — this time a newcomer from Ukraine.
We are providing legal assistance to a 71-year-old nun who was attacked in broad daylight on a street in Bielsk Podlaski. A 26-year-old Ukrainian man approached the nun, hurled insults at her, tore the cross from her neck, and threw it onto the roadway.
Experts diagnosed the man with a mental illness. In this case the prosecutor filed a motion to order outpatient psychiatric treatment for the assailant, which — after the experts and witnesses were examined — was ordered by the District Court in Bielsk Podlaski. We will now seek to have the treatment carried out in Ukraine.
Threats against Christians during the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity finale
We are also intervening in Jasło, where during this year’s finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP), a nationwide Polish charity fundraiser — in the course of one band’s performance — the musicians shouted from the stage: “Burn the churches, break the crosses”.
We are representing the victims in this case, who were eyewitnesses to the incident. Unfortunately, the prosecution service — which Poland’s Justice Minister, Waldemar Żurek, is pressing to pursue “hate speech” against many groups — sees nothing objectionable in this particular case and has discontinued the preliminary proceedings.
We have filed an appeal against this decision. We hope that the court will order the prosecutor to continue the proceedings.
Even more shocking scenes took place in Chwałkowo, where, during a performance by the death-metal band Baalzagoth… a cross was set on fire! Worse still, the festival at which this shocking act of Christianophobia occurred was funded with public money!
A notification of a possible offense has already been submitted to the prosecutor’s office.
A Civic Coalition councilor rejoiced at a burning papal cross
In recent months, we also intervened in Stargard, where a local Civic Coalition (KO) councilor, Monika Kirschenstein, posted on her social media a photograph of a burning papal cross with the comment “a beautiful sight.”
Our representatives took part in a march in defense of the faith and religious symbols in Stargard and helped to file a notification with the prosecutor’s office regarding a possible offense committed by the councilor.
At the same time, we submitted a petition to the mayor and the city council of Stargard calling for councilor Kirschenstein’s remarks to be condemned. So far, the Stargard City Council has not punished the councilor in any way for her disgraceful conduct.
Christians constitute the majority in Poland. And that is why many of us fall prey to the illusory belief that the “filing away” of Christians’ privileges announced by those in power is unrealistic. The examples of Western European countries prove that the passivity of Catholics leads to waves of violence and persecution.
Jerzy Kwaśniewski — attorney, President of the Ordo Iuris Institute
See also:
- Council of Europe Warns About Violations of Religious Freedom but Overlooks the Scale of Anti-Christian Aggression
- A Report from a U.S. Presidential Commission on the War on Religion
- IKEA Loses in Poland’s Supreme Court: The Policy of Inclusivity Should Not Exclude Christians
Source of cover photo: Ordo Iuris
