Christ for King of Poland?

46 of 460 Polish MPs have called for Jesus Christ to be named honorary King of Poland, but have failed to win support from the country's powerful Roman Catholic Church. Lawmakers for the ruling Law and Justice party and League of Polish Families as well as the opposition Peasants Party back the resolution. Wojciech Wierzejski, a top LPR MP, said: "Jesus is a King in the hearts of many Catholics."

Backing from the church would be crucial to build support for the proposal, but several bishops criticized it, and said parliament should stay out of religious affairs.

Gdansk Archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski said: "Let parliament deal with passing better laws that we need."

Archbishop Leszek Slawoj Glodz said: "Let bricklayers build apartments, tailors sew dresses, and MPs not interfere in things they do not know anything about. "MPs should pray and suffer, so that they will be remembered fondly."

The Archbishop makes a rather snippy comment. The kind of comment that tends to push people away from the tenderness of our faith. Remember the Reformation?

What would JPII if he were still on earth say of this Jesus for King matter?

In his first encyclical, Redemptor hominis, John Paul II made Christ the center of the church's witness in a manner that shaped all his papacy. Those external to the Catholic world may think it odd to congratulate a pope for being "Christological." But John Paul II, schooled on the resources needed to oppose totalitarians, called Catholic theology back to its animating center with a renewed sense that Jesus matters.

During JPII's historic visit to Nicaragua in 1983, he scolded 5 priests who held positions in the Sandinista government. The visit took place admist the ongoing contra war. This was a period of extreme polarization between the Nicaraguan Catholic hierarchy and popular sectors of the Nicaraguan Church and heightened tensions between the hierarchy and Sandinista state. The Pope stressed the importance of Church unity as the best way to prevent Nicaragua from being corrupted by "godless communism".

The Church entered the political arena and fought against communism and totalitarians under JPII leadership. Heck, the fought to stay alive under communism -remember Nowa Huta? Maybe Glodz should think of this situation as being a two way street. Let the Sjem elect who they wish for honorary King of Poland. At least that would be a confidence vote against totalitary and communist ideology. I don't see a threat of the Polish government pushing for control of the Church even though the politicians made Christmas a national holiday. What makes the election of Christ any different?

Perhaps the clergy see something more that has not been revieled to my intellect. But, on this issue I'd vote my faith. I could be wrong, but I'd vote my faith.