Poland Research Paper

Roman Catholicism, Communism:

Who runs Poland?

By

Ryan Witkowski

ENG 1123 00 Composition and Rhetoric

Dr. Sheba Kulothungan

February 21, 2005

Outline

Thesis:

I. Poland and the church before communism

1. Church's political power

a. Had many people specifically placed in the government

b. Church controlled 80% of offices to help its influence in politics

2. Had possession of 450,000 acres in Poland

a. If you wanted land you must buy it from the church directly

b. The church then became more powerful than Govt.

II. Poland and the church during communism

3. The church fighting the war

a. The church did not want to loose power

b. Clergymen made up most of the soldiers

c. 1/3 of clergymen in Poland died from war

4. The church and communistic rule

a. No more free press

b. Church could not openly express opinion specifically not in print

5. Political structure

a. When communism took over all parties were demolished

b. No more public opinion or representation

III. Poland after the fall of communism

6. Economy

a. After communism fell millions in trade debts from the soviets were not paid to Poland

B. U.S. with President Ronald Regan gave around 1 billion dollars in loans to Poland

7. The people

a. Narcotics rose in 1990's

b. As a result of needles from narcotics HIV AIDS rose to 250,000

c. 150,000 kilos of cocaine confiscated

Poland through the years has been greatly influenced by the church and communism. Even today the people of Poland can tell you of the great power struggles and shifts of power that have occurred though out its years. The greatest early influence had to be Roman Catholicism.

Over the seven hundred year history of Poland, there is one underlying structure that eventually ran Poland before the government became communist. That power was the Roman Catholic Church. The church had gained great political power through a few avenues. The first of which was the government. The church had placed and sponsored many people within the government. The representatives were office holders and party leaders. (Szajkowski) The church told them, which issues to back in order for the church to gain power and more influence. Eventually they gained close to 80% of the voting body. This was not the only way in which the church had begun to grasp power in Poland. With the majority of the Polish people being Roman Catholic, (500,000) the Church became extremely rich, and therefore more powerful. (Szajkowski) With this extreme wealth, the Roman Catholic bought massive amounts of land. This turned out to be the smartest thing the Church has done up to this point. With this massive amount of land, (450,000 acres) they begun to lease and sell for a considerable profit. This made the church extremely rich and even more powerful than before. The Roman Catholic Church was not indestructible. There was another force coming from Russia. This force not only threatened the existence of Poland as a nation but also would remove the mighty Church from its powerful position.

Communism. Just the pronunciation of its name brought fear into the very being of the Roman Catholic Church. The anti-Christian, anti-religion structure was becoming very strong in Russia and moving west towards Poland. When the soviets begun their attack on Poland, the general public was not greatly moved to become enlisted in the military. They were no longer happy with the church or the poverty they were experiencing. As a result, the military was not made up of working class people. The primary solider was a clergyman. The priest wanted to maintain their presence in the government. If the soviets ruled over Poland, the church would be dissolved within the government. Thus the power of the church would be dissolved. The clergymen fought well and hard, but to no avail. The death toll was surprising to the government. They thought they could hold longer than they did. When the tally of deaths was taken, over 1/3 of the deaths were clergymen.

This final knockout blow to the church marked the end of their long and strong reign in Poland. The change would be devastating for the church. The surprising thing was that the soviets allowed the church to still be in existence. The church was restricted though, and for the first time ever, they reported to the government. With the communistic system in place, the church had to follow new rules. No longer were they able to print their own pamphlets, or express