Polish Bishops Urge Dialogue Amid Tribunal Crisis
After police sealed the court, the episcopate warned of a deep state crisis and urged prayer and peaceful reconciliation.
On October 31, 2026, the presidency of the Polish Episcopal Conference issued a statement in Warsaw calling on all sides “not to escalate the conflict,” to pursue constructive dialogue, and to resolve difficulties peacefully.
Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gdańsk, president of the conference; Archbishop Józef Kupny of Wrocław, vice president; and Secretary General Marek Marczak said they observed “with great concern” the events surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal. They warned that the escalation of the dispute over the constitutional foundations of the Republic of Poland was leading to a “profound crisis of the state.”
“It is not the Church’s task to judge the causes of this dispute and the responsibility for its failure to be resolved,” the bishops stated. They asked people “of good will” to support every effort toward national understanding and reconciliation, and urged the faithful to pray for the homeland and for those who govern, so that the welfare of citizens and the common good become their most important duty. The statement included a prayer for the homeland by the Jesuit Piotr Skarga.
Overnight Entry and Political Response
The appeal followed the entry, on Friday, October 30, of police and the State Protection Service into the Tribunal premises. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska then announced the suspension of Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski, who was not allowed into the building.
President Karol Nawrocki, who had been traveling to Senegal for the Dakar Youth Olympic Games, wrote that at such a moment the president must be in Poland, interrupted the flight, and returned. He landed in Warsaw at 9:50 p.m. and went to the Tribunal overnight. A statement from the presidency called the night a violation of the constitutional order and a “forcible takeover” of a state body, demanded that government forces withdraw, and argued that in a democratic state under the rule of law the police cannot be an instrument for executing the will of rulers.
Nawrocki admitted that vice president Bartłomiej Sochański, whom he considers legitimately in office, convened urgent consultations with parliamentary forces, and told Korwin-Piotrowska and two other judges: “You are not judges of the Tribunal.”
Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government presents its action as restoring the rule of law. Tusk wrote that restoring the rule of law is his duty, while police say they acted within their legal security obligations. Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek sent the Tribunal five requests to lift judges’ immunity, four of them concerning Święczkowski.
Church Voices and Civic Reaction
The Catholic legal institute Ordo Iuris described the events as a “nighttime forcible takeover” and an “unprecedented attack on a constitutional body.” It asked the Venice Commission, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE to react urgently, and launched a petition demanding police withdrawal, clarification of who ordered the operation, and an investigation.
Bishop Artur Ważny of Sosnowiec called the institutional crisis a “test of conscience.” Hundreds gathered before the building, which was closed with a chain and surrounded by police.
The bishops’ call places national reconciliation and prayer at the center of the Catholic response, without taking sides on the underlying legal dispute, while underscoring the duty of those who govern to seek the common good.