Marek Jędraszewski, Archbishop of Kraków in Poland told a conference he deemed it “necessary to create clinics (including with the assistance of the church) to help people who want to regain their sexual health and natural sexual orientation.” The statement was delivered at a plenary meeting of the Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP). The statement admitted the demand “stands in clear contradiction to positions regarded as scientific, as well as to so-called political correctness.”
At the three-day conference the bishops tried to have it all ways by also saying that “The requirement of respect for all people, including people identifying with LGBT+, is entirely correct, and a democratic state with the rule of law should ensure that none of the fundamental rights of these people are violated. Any acts of physical or verbal violence, any forms of hooligan behaviour and aggression against LGBT+ people are unacceptable.”
Father Jacek Prusak. a Polish priest, spoke out against the document. When interviewed by TVN24 he said that the KEP were “treating the bible as a psychology textbook and a constitution for all Poles, and this cannot be done.” He noted that the timing of the statement wasn’t accidental, and that it was partially targeted at Polish politicians.
The clinics the bishops are demanding are essentially conversion therapy centres. Conversion therapy has been widely discredited by the NHS, Boris Johnson and the World Psychiatric Association. The practice can involve electric shock therapy and has left many participants traumatised. It is currently legal in the UK.
The KEP also heard the results of a survey by Pew Research Centre which showed that Polish religiosity had fallen from 83% in 1991 to 69% in 2020. Poland is a majority Catholic country and ranked among the worst in geographical Europe for LGBTQ+ rights by IGLA-Rainbow (for comparison the UK is ninth on the list with Malta being first). The country is ruled by president Andrezj Duda who was re-elected in July this year after making a number of anti-LGBTQ+ statements throughout his campaign. A number of Polish towns have declared themselves as LGBTQ+ Free zones which led to a denial of funds by the EU.
