Polish archbishop criticizes petition to ban children’s confession

“These are old communist tactics propped up by questionable psychology.”

A Catholic archbishop has criticized a petition submitted to the lower house of Poland’s parliament demanding a ban on confession for children under 18.

Wooden confessionals in a church in Zakopane, Poland. Ivonna Nowicka via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki of Poznań described the petition submitted to parliament as “a re-enactment of what we faced during Stalinism.”

The petition was presented to the Sejm in October by the performance artist Rafał Betlejewski, an established critic of the Church, after gaining more than 12,000 signatories on the activism website avaaz.org.

“It is even difficult to understand that in a Christian culture, where confession has existed for nearly 2,000 years, suddenly some person comes along and demands a ban on confession for children,” Gądecki told the Polish news agency PAP.

The petition calls for “a ban on confessions of children under 18 years of age in the Catholic Church” and other Christian communions that offer the sacrament.

It describes the Sacrament of Reconciliation as “a relic of the Middle Ages, in which feudal social relations prevailed.”

It demands “protection for children from religious families who are forced by tradition, the Church, and their families to participate in confession as an indispensable element of religious education.”

Gądecki said the petition was reminiscent of the Polish communist authorities’ attitude to the Catholic Church.

“Back then it was also said that children should not be baptized or go to church until they were 18,” the former president of Poland’s bishops’ conference recalled. “Only after that can they — of course those who can withstand anti-clerical pressure — come and confess.”

“These are old communist tactics propped up by questionable psychology.”

Archbishop Adrian Galbas, the new Archbishop of Warsaw, has also criticized the petition, describing it as “absurd and bizarre.”

The petition was first submitted to parliament in 2023, but rejected because it failed to meet formal requirements. It was submitted again on Oct. 16, 2024.

After a petition is submitted, it is reviewed by the Marshal of the Sejm, the speaker of the lower house, who can refer it to a petitions committee or take no further action.

The petition was submitted on Nov. 20, 2024, to the committee, which can submit a bill on the topic or decide to take no action. Lawmakers reportedly have three months to consider the petition.

The initiative comes at a sensitive time for the Catholic Church in Poland, which is locked in a bitter battle with the government over its plans to reduce religion classes in public schools.

The Church approves the teachers and curriculum for religion lessons, which are funded by schools. Participation in the classes is voluntary and depends upon the wishes of parents or students themselves in high school classes.

Observers have pointed out that if a petition banning confession for under-18s were approved, children’s first Communions would also be forbidden, because they are preceded by a first confession.

Any ban would also be challenged on the grounds of religious freedom, which is protected in both Polish law and that of the European Union, the political and economic union of 27 member states, including Poland.

The Vatican, which has frequently defended the seal of the confessional in recent years, would also likely intervene in the debate.

Even if the petition were turned into a bill, it would likely face strong opposition in the Polish parliament, given that 71% of Poland’s roughly 38 million population identify as Catholic.

The governing coalition might be wary of the issue ahead of a May 18 presidential election that will see the election of a successor to Andrzej Duda, a practicing Catholic associated with the opposition Law and Justice party.

Poland’s deputy prime minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told media the petition was against the country’s constitution.

“Of course I do not support it. Poland is a country where there is religious freedom and it is up to parents to decide how they raise their children,” said the chairman of the Polish People’s Party, a center-right member of the governing coalition.

“This goes against the constitution, common sense, and our culture.”