Polish Bishops Offer Mediation, Call Nov. 10 Fast
The council warns of deep divisions and urges prudence in the Tusk–Nawrocki standoff as Independence Day approaches.
On November 4, 2026, the Permanent Council of the Polish Episcopal Conference, meeting in Warsaw, issued a statement on the institutional crisis between the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki. The bishops offered “all the help necessary” to launch and sustain mediation and dialogue, and called on the parties to use “the gifts of prudence, humility and responsibility.”
They asked for an end to escalation, “the abandonment of prejudice and the use of force,” and warned that “deep social and political divisions … have turned into hatred and aggression.” Citing Pope Leo XIV at the close of a general audience, they recalled that “peace is built on justice, on respect for the law, on dialogue, and not on violence.” They also quoted St. John Paul II in Centesimus annus: “a democracy without values easily turns into open or hidden totalitarianism.”
Tribunal Standoff
The crisis sharpened on October 30, when police entered the grounds of the Constitutional Tribunal and a judge announced the suspension of its president, Bogdan Święczkowski. President Nawrocki cut short an official trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw that night. He accuses the government of provoking a grave constitutional crisis and acting illegally; the government reproaches him for refusing to swear in five constitutional judges elected by the lower house.
Fast and Prayer for the Homeland
Looking ahead to National Independence Day on November 11, the bishops recalled Article 1 of the Constitution—“The Republic of Poland is the common good of all its citizens”—and stated that responsibility for that common good “rests primarily on politicians … who will be held accountable before God, the Nation and history.”
The statement closes by inviting the faithful to fast and pray on Tuesday, November 10, for social peace, national understanding, and reconciliation, and to sing the anthem “God Save Poland” and recite the Prayer for the Homeland by the Jesuit preacher Piotr Skarga. The call places the Church’s voice firmly on the side of lawful dialogue, the defense of the constitutional order as a shared good, and spiritual conversion rather than partisan victory.