Polish Bishop provokes a storm of controversy after sermon at pilgrimage shrine

Bishop Mering on migrants and Germans. Terlikowski: Stupid and scandalous

Bishop Wiesław Mering delivered a sermon during Mass at Jasna Góra. "We are ruled by people who call themselves Germans," he stated, adding that "Poland is ruled today by political gangsters." Tomasz Terlikowski addressed this. "Tell your brother: convert, man, change your stance, stop talking nonsense," he appealed to the Bishops.

During Saturday's Mass, Bishop Wiesław Mering quoted, among other things, the words of a poet. "We are ruled by people who call themselves Germans. In the 18th century, one of the Polish poets, Wacław Potocki, said: 'As the world changes, a German will not be a brother to a Pole.' History has terribly proven the truth of this saying," he said.

The priest stated that "Poland, the homeland, culture, and tradition must be defended consciously and very courageously today." "Unfortunately, schools are not doing this, destroyed by the barbarity that removes patriotic content from textbooks and our children's education, accusing Poles, through the mouth of a minister, of building the Auschwitz concentration camp. Patriotic content that inspires pride in Poland's history and greatness is being removed," he noted.

Bishop Mering also said that "Poland is ruled today by political gangsters." "You were probably surprised by this strong statement, but I only quoted Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister, because he said so," he argued.

Let's be clear: the priest quoted a manipulated fragment, which was also widely circulated by PiS politicians on social media.

What did the Prime Minister really say on May 25th during the Great Patriots' March? "We said many times—and we knew why we were saying it—that Poland is ruled by political gangsters. Remember two, three, four years ago, remember? Today—and people, hear this, see this, open your eyes wide—today it's not political gangsters who want to seize power, but ordinary gangsters. And there's no exaggeration in that. Poland, wake up. This cannot be," he said.

The Church and Politics: "The Bishop's duty is to bring Christ into Politics"

Bishop Mering also cited the words of a Hong Kong hierarch as support for the thesis that politics should be present in the Church. "The bishop's duty is to bring Christ into politics, because politics without Christ is the greatest plague on the nation," he quoted.

The priest also touched on the topic of abortion and euthanasia. He stated that such policies "threaten human life." "And no authority, no government, no Parliament has the right to introduce such a law that leads to death," he warned.

Terlikowski: Bishop Mering acted like a non-brother and non-neighbor

Columnist Tomasz Terlikowski commented on his words. "Bishop Mering, towards others, towards strangers, but also towards those who disagree with him, did not behave like Jesus Christ, he did not behave like a Samaritan. He acted like a non-brother and non-neighbor. Not Gospel like, contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ, contrary to the teaching of the Church," he emphasized on TVN24.

"There is no Jew or Greek, there is no Pole or German. From the perspective of Church teaching, Bishop Mering is advocating theses that are absolutely inconsistent with them." Inconsistent with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, inconsistent with the teachings of subsequent Popes from Pius XII through John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis," he listed.

"Stop talking nonsense." The columnist doesn't bite his tongue.

"What I, as a Catholic, can do is say that, from the perspective of the Gospel, Bishop Mering is proclaiming stupid, scandalous, and unchristian theses. He is a politician of the Confederation, of the Law and Justice party, and nothing more," he added. "He presents opinions contrary to the Gospel, he is proclaiming non-evangelical theses. Primate, Metropolitan of Warsaw, Archbishop Galbas, Cardinal Rysiu, you can say this and tell your brother: convert, man, change your position, stop talking nonsense," Terlikowski appealed.

Source

Bishop Wiesław Mering was appointed Bishop of Włocławek by Pope John Paul II on March 25, 2003.

He adopted the words "Justitia, pax et gaudium" as the motto of his ministry, taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (14:17): "The Kingdom of God (...) is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."

He was ordained a priest in 1972 in Gdynia. He completed his doctoral studies at the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw and studied theology for a year at the University of Humanities in Strasbourg.

In 1992, he was appointed Rector of the Major Seminary in Pelplin, where he has taught introduction to philosophy, metaphysics, the history of philosophy, and philosophical anthropology for many years.