Poland's Military Expansion and Ultra-Conservative National Identity Challenge EU Values

This is one of the most visited holy places in the world, the jewel in Poland's crown, the Jasna Gora Monastery, known as the Hill of Light. Every year, four million worshippers from all over the world come here to gather and implore the Black Madonna of Częstochowa in a peaceful and prayerful atmosphere. But when night falls, in the streets around the monastery, ultra-nationalist groups have taken over the area.

Standing together with flaming torches and dark clothing. 500 members of the all-Polish youth repeat far-right slogans. We are living through worrying times. The family is under attack. They try to convince us that a family can mean the marriage of two men. So let us all shout together now. The family is our nation's strength. 23-year-old Marcin is a prominent champion of all Polish youth, an organization who advocate for a vision of Poland which is white, Catholic and openly homophobic.

A practicing homosexual cannot be part of the all-polish community. because the Catholic Church excludes homosexuals from the faith. It is a sin, and that is why we fight against LGBT. It is depraved. Every year at Pentecost, the all-Polish youth organize this rally at the Jasna Gora Monastery with the complicity of the religious authorities. The clergy have provided them with a crypt inside the holy site for an important ceremony, the induction of new members. But before they join the group, they must first immerse themselves in its ideology. For instance, this book was written by Roman Domowski,

who is the father of Polish nationalism. There are a number of books, and candidates must take an exam to prove that they have read them. We consider ourselves to be the heirs to this national ideology. The new recruits must be well-versed in the works of Adam Dobosinski, a notoriously anti-Semitic writer. He is known to have been responsible for looting Jewish-owned businesses in the 1930s. Several distinguished guests have come to this event to support the all-Polish youth, including the former deputy bishop. of Jasna Gora.

You are our future. You are the hope of our country. And Robert Winnicki, a member of parliament who believes that Poland is caught in the middle between two enemies. Today we must once again build up our state's military power because on the one hand there is a threat from Moscow and on the other a cultural threat from the West.

Today, five young people are joining the 3,000 members of this movement. Let's hear it for the new members of the All Polish Youth. Around 50,000 people in Poland support the extreme right ultra-nationalist movement. And their hateful rhetoric seems to resonate in a country which is in the midst of a crisis. of an identity crisis. Poland, in Eastern Europe, with a population of 38 million people, lies at the heart of a particularly unstable region. Poland shares a border with Ukraine and also a 190-kilometer border with Belarus, a country which is allied with Vladimir Putin.

Faced with the threat from Russia, Poland is now the first line of defense for NATO. The country has even set itself the goal of doubling the size of its army to become Europe's leading army within 10 years. But while Poland has been praised for its decisive role in the war in Ukraine, it has also been criticized for its domestic policy since the Law and Justice Party came to power in 2015. President Andrzej Duda's policies are nationalist and conservative. He has gone up against the European Union, refusing to conform to. environmental standards and supports the coal mining industry. As your president,

I want to reaffirm that coal is our principal energy source. There are 60,000 coal miners in Poland and every day they descend 650 meters below the surface of the earth, at risk to their lives. Poland is Europe's leading producer of combustible fuel, but also one of the most polluted countries in Europe. In some regions, the air has become toxic. In the town of Rybnik, children suffer from severe respiratory illnesses throughout the winter. Her cough just never stops. She cries and struggles to breathe. I am preparing myself for the worst. Poland is not only the black sheep on the environment, But also when it comes to civil liberties.

The government is behind on women's rights. Along with Malta, Poland is the last country in the European Union to still ban abortion. Abortion itself is probably the largest genocidal act that is being committed now on the world. As a result of this, 80,000 women per year have secret abortions. Justyna faces a three-year prison sentence for having sent abortion pills to another woman. I think this is the direction to shut us down.

Under government influence, homophobic hate speech is on the rise. But a large number of young people are rising up and refuse this relapse back into conservatism. People tell me, oh, go to the West if you like it so much. You have all rights over there. No, I want to fight here. Poland is more divided than ever before. between those who defend traditional values and those who want Poland to modernize and look to the future.

In the southwest of Poland, in Silesia, a deeply Catholic area, the local economy depends on coal. They have been mining coal here for the past two centuries. Coal mining still employs around 80,000 people. 20 working mines dot the landscape of Silesia. They are the pride of the region. But following pressure from the European Union, the government has committed to closing the mines. In the meantime, the mine at Zimovit still produces 3 million tons of coal per year.

Michal, one of the 7,000 workers at the mine. He is 33 years old and has worked here since the age of 19. A few minutes before he descends deep below the surface, Michal, a devout Catholic, prays for protection to St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners. We want as many men to return to the surface as went down the mine. That is why all the workers visit here.

Michal is the foreman and responsible for the safety of 25 men. It is a huge responsibility. It is risky work. I take care of my men. I tell them what to do so that they work safely and efficiently. That's the main thing. Hello How are you? The most beautiful in Lempown. We will choose the most beautiful. Thank you very much. I will send you a copy.

What is your name? Please write down the address. Before descending 650 meters underground, they remember the fate of 15 miners who died in 2022 in nearby coal mines. Production never stops, so the team's work shifts around the clock.

For the next eight hours, Michal will be deep in the bowels of the earth with no contact with the world above. First of all, they take the lift. which takes them down farther. 500 meters below the surface. But there is still a long way to go before they reach the coal face. The miners need to travel another 160 kilometers of underground tunnels by the pit railway.

He's the slimmest one among us. Just imagine if someone tried to get on board who wasn't slim. Four of them squeeze into one square meter for a 45-minute journey. So, to pass the time, they talk about their working conditions. We don't compare our conditions to the mine at Jastrzebska because the coal they produce is three times more expensive. We went there for a strike. Their union are really good. They are united.

The mine's resources are depleted over time, so the miners dig ever deeper, explore ever further. Deep in these underground tunnels, they are highly vulnerable if there is an accident. The coal dust is highly flammable. And to cope with the dust, they use oxygen masks. Fire is the biggest danger in a coal mine. This machine, which is called an escape respirator, is mostly made up of oxygen cartridges.

We use this if there is a fire, and it allows us to breathe for one hour. We have to move, that is, follow the road, and we have to wait for 60 minutes. The coal miners who sacrifice their time and their health just to earn their living are just furious to be told this. It's a difficult job, and someone who knows nothing about it, someone in Brussels, sitting at his desk in his tie, tells us,

your Polish coal is no good. For the moment, they will continue to mine fuel thanks to this coal shearer, which cuts away the coal face. It's a steel monster, three and a half meters high. But today, it is failing to start. What's going on? I don't know. We're trying to find out why there's no signal. Can you get in? I think so, but I'll need to get onto my knees.

Oh dear, I can't believe this. After a few technical modifications, production can start again. Coal gushes out of the machine and a thick cloud of dust covers the miners. The coal that we are mining here, this is our black gold, our national treasure. It's a precious natural resource which gives us energy security. It means that the Polish. people can sleep easy.

Once the machine starts work, the miners need to ensure the transport of the coal on these conveyor belts. They extract 700 tons of coal per shift. After more than eight hours of hard work in the difficult, dusty, humid conditions, Michal can finally return to the surface. Ten percent of people in the town work at the mine like Michal. The foreman earns 1,700 euros per month, which is three times the minimum wage in Poland.

The salary provides a comfortable lifestyle for him and his family. Michal has two young children, Leon and Bianca. His wife's parents have come over to share a traditional Silesian meal. Miners need meat. It gives them energy. This is a coal mining family going back for generations. Sylvester, Michal's father-in-law, spent 25 years working underground as a coal miner. He's 49 years old and already retired, a benefit reserved for miners. Bianca, you know that I lived right next to the mine. And one day I forgot to have a shower before I left work and ill-arrived home, completely black.

Your grandmother thought that I was a demon. Do you know how to recognize a miner? Their eyes are always black. That's why daddy has dirty eyes when he gets home. Sylvester keeps treasured memories in this photo album. He is a little nostalgic for this bygone era. You see, grandpa is wearing a lamp on his head and mining clothes. When I look at these photos and look back on these years, I have so many good memories. We had plenty of time for everything. I think it's better than now when it's a race for coal. Everyone's throwing themselves at it, whereas we were out drinking beers.

Sylvester is counting on his grandson to continue the family tradition. Perhaps my grandson will be a coal miner too. May St. Barbara protect all miners. She is their patron saint. The family are devout Catholics and they go to Mass every Sunday. 90% of Polish people are baptized, which is the highest rate anywhere in Europe. Under communism, which lasted from 1952 to 1989, Pope John Paul II and the priesthood played a decisive role as dissidents in the face of repression by the communist regime. So,

for many Polish people, the Catholic Church is a source of national strength. This little village church is full every Sunday. Some people have to follow the mass from outside. We go to church to pass on the tradition to our children, so that they get into the habit of going and of praying. Maybe that will help them sometimes.

Bianca also prays every night before she goes to sleep, the angel prayer, and that helps you too, doesn't it, Bianca? Catholic values and traditions also include remembering the dead. Michal and his family pray for those who lost their lives in the mine, like Lukas. We knew each other because we played football together. We sometimes went for training weekends away.

Lukas died at the age of 33. His tomb bears the insignia of a miner. He worked in the Wesola mine at the coal face. What happened was that the roof fell in on him. They found him two days later. They found him crushed under the rubble. Despite the risks of his profession, Michal wants his region's mining tradition to continue. But while coal mining might protect Poland's energy independence, the indiscriminate use of coal has a devastating impact on the environment, government. and public health.

Poland suffers exceptionally high levels of pollution. Of the 50 most polluted towns in Europe, 22 of them are located in Poland. The city of Rybnik lies 40 kilometers from the Zimowit mine. From the beginning of winter, the air becomes unbreathable. As soon as the coal stoves are lit to heat the homes, a thick fog blankets the city. Katarzyna is a doctor. Every day she checks the air pollution. And, as usual, the levels are well above the World Health Organization's recommended limits.

These graphics show that the particle density is three and a half times higher than recommended limits. It's very serious. The smaller the particles are, the more dangerous they are for our health, because they can penetrate deep into our organism and affect every cell in our body with terrible repercussions. Katarzyna leads the pediatric medicine service at the hospital in Rybnik. Winter has just begun and all 30 beds are occupied.

What's going on here? It's scary. Come on, let's go to the hospital. Beautiful. All her patients are suffering from similar problems. She is coughing more and more. She has a mucus cough that makes it hard for her to breathe. Polish children are exposed to four times as much pollution as children in other European countries like France. When there is pollution in the air, the child starts to suffocate and their breathing accelerates. We have to treat them to help air get down into their lungs.

Jagodka was brought to the hospital by her mother as an emergency one week ago. She is suffering from pneumonia. I can still hear it here. There is still a whistling sound when she breathes. My daughter started coughing in the middle of the night. The cough just didn't stop. She was exhausted, she was crying, she was struggling to breathe. You were worried for her? Yes, I feared the worst.

Jagodka is only four years old, but this is the third time that she has been hospitalized. 45,000 people a year die in Poland because of atmospheric pollution, twice the proportion that die in France, for example. The doctor believes that there is only one solution. They must stop using coal. How I was born in Silesia, and I am proud to live and work here. I love our tradition. Silesia is defined by coal and by the mines. But still, I believe that we need to separate those two things.

The era of using coal for heating needs to stop, because it is harmful to health and to our children's health. We no longer have time for these feelings and for bad habits. Fine particle pollution is mainly caused by domestic heating. The regional authorities have started to address the issue, albeit cautiously. They have banned the use of coal-fired stoves manufactured before 2007, which have no filter and are highly polluting. In Pishina, the city police are on the hunt.

Today, Piotr and Wojciech are going to smoke out the illegal stoves. They test about a dozen every day based on tip-offs from local residents. When winter starts, the reports start flooding in. You know people are starting to take care of the environment. They check what other people are burning. Hello, local police. We're here to check your stove.

I don't think they want to cooperate with us. No, even the dog is against us. It's okay. The stove is in the basement. If it does not comply with regulations, the owner faces a fine of a thousand euros. I see a new stove. When did you last change it? Three years ago. Here's the boiler nameplate. So, see here it's category 5, and here's the date of production, 2012. This stove is still new.

It's the best category. Despite these checks, many Polish people are obliged to break the law. People know what creates pollution, they're aware of it. But lack of money can sometimes hold them back, and some are still using old stoves. Right now it costs about 4,200 euros to replace a stove.

Three and a half million people are currently using old, highly polluting stoves because they can't afford to change them. Danuta and her husband Adam live in Nowy Zianow, in the center of Poland. They can see the coal-fired power station at Belchatow from their garden. It produces more pollution than any other power station in Europe.

We love our courtyard and our flowers. It's pretty, it's pleasant. We're cleaning because right now the weather is mild, so we need to make the most of it. Adam and Danuta are getting ready for winter. The temperature drops as low as minus 15 degrees centigrade in this region of Poland. Their home is heated with coal, just like 50% of people in Poland. Here, that's the fuel. Here is the fire, and the embers are here. And here we have the ash.

We are out during the day, but when we come home, we put more coal on. Adam and Danuta worry about the phasing out of coal. Since the war in Ukraine began, the price of coal has skyrocketed, and their stock is running out. So the couple burn everything they can, including plastic waste, at obvious risk to their health. You know, there used to be 70 mines in Poland.

Now there are only 17 left. People have lost their jobs and we have been deprived of heat. Adam is a retired truck driver and Danuta doesn't work. So to save money, They keep a few winter provisions in a very well hidden spot. Peppers, beets, cucumbers, beans, gherkins. These are the mushrooms that we pickled this year. We add them to our lunches. We eat them with potatoes. Poland plans to end its dependence on coal and comply with European Union environmental regulations. And so it has decided to focus on nuclear power.

However, the first nuclear power plant will not be operational until 2033. In the meantime, the government has once again authorized the use of lignite for domestic heating. It is cheaper than normal coal. But it is the most harmful type of coal to human health. Poland is the black sheep of the European Union on the environment. But it is also criticized by other European countries for its stance on civil liberties.

Along with Malta, it is the last country in Europe where abortion is still illegal. In 2020, it was even banned in cases of fetal impairment. It is now only permitted in cases of rape or immediate danger to the mother's life. Pro and anti-abortion campaigners clash over this issue, and one news item has divided society. In front of the courthouse in Warsaw, hundreds of people have come onto the street to denounce a trial which they see as a fresh attack on women's rights. But a few meters away from them, Fundamentalist Catholic organizations are also demonstrating.

Photos of bloody fetuses, anti-abortion slogans. Their goal is to be just as visible as the opposing camp. 30,000 children a year are flushed down the toilet by their mothers thanks to abortion pills. Abortion is murder. It's a particularly cruel form of homicide and we demand the same punishment as for infanticide. This is a high-profile trial. Justyna Vidrinska, a mother of three children aged 48, is facing a three-year prison sentence for having helped a woman who wanted an abortion.

Justyna is a pro-abortion militant. A few months ago, she was put in touch with a desperate young woman who wanted to end her pregnancy. Justyna sent her abortion pills through the post. It was totally a stranger person for me. I just have heard a story that she's living with an abusive partner, with the violence. I knew exactly what she was going through because it was also my own experience. So I put this very small envelope inside the box and closed it and went home.

Two days later, the woman's husband called the police who traced the pills back to Justyna. Her apartment was searched and a prosecution was launched against her. You cannot imagine what. sending abortion pills, can go like in three years in jail. Justyna has been fighting for the legalization of abortion in Poland for 15 years. She is at the premises of her association, Abortion Dream Team, with her friends Natalia and Kinga. Every day, they receive around 40 calls from women asking for their help.

3 p.m., I think, 8, 9, 10. Today, her lawyer has come over for a final review of her case before the trial. Ready for the trial of your life? Yes, I am. The abortion case, the case of the century. Above all, it is Justyna's activism that is being put on trial. Justyna is an activist. That's what makes this trial different from a normal trial. Because there is a political dimension to it. In the charges,

the prosecutor wrote that I am an abortion activist. And I work in the abortion dream team and I share information about. how to do safe medical abortion in Poland. So this is why I think that this is from the very beginning, it's very political. Justyna is facing an influential adversary. In the center of Warsaw, other lawyers are also preparing for the hearing. They are members of Ordo Louris, a well-established ultra-conservative lobby that is very close to the political powers that be in Poland.

Jerzy Kwasniewski is the president of Ordo Luris. And how did it end? The child died following a miscarriage, is that correct? Ordo Luris was admitted as counsel to the court for Justina's trial. The aim of this abortion was to kill the child. We have asked for the special status because the interest of the child has no representative in proceeding. Or do louris wants to roll abortion rights back even further they want to ban abortion even in cases of rape Jean dober yes, Ross, thank you It should be forbidden us all other ways of killing people Abortion itself is probably the largest

Genocidal act that is being committed now on the word in the world this Mass abortion process that is going on globally has already killed tens of millions of people. Funded by private donations to the tune of 2 million euros a year, and with the help of an army of lawyers, Ordo Louris lobbies the government on family values. They even want to ban divorce, and in order to achieve their aims, they have gone on the offensive. It is our aim to. influence not only academia, not only the legal professionals, but also the public opinion. And through the public opinion,

we need to influence the politicians, we need to influence the culture, we need to influence the social processes. Ordo Luris' methods are effective. Its members have risen to the highest levels in the state. In 2019, the founder, Aleksander Stepkowski, was nominated as a judge in the constitutional court by the Polish president. And one year later, along with other judges, the court banned abortion in cases of fetal impairment. Determining whether a child has the right to live based on his or her state of health constitutes direct discrimination.

The decision of the Constitutional Court in Poland was a success of all the jurists and our friends from different NGOs, organizations and politicians who are siding with this perspective. To recruit future jurists to their fundamentalist values, in 2021, Ordo Luris started a university of law. The Europe of the third millennium will either be Christian or will not be at all. That's why we're creating Collegium Intermarium. As an advisor to the court, Jerzy Kwasniewski wants to use Justyna's trial to promote his ideas.

For the first time in Europe, a pro-abortion activist is on trial in Warsaw for helping a woman who wanted an abortion. It's heartbreaking to not be there and scream, but sitting in this room and listen to those shitty things. Sometimes the support I hear, and I hope. The support I will be here from the courtroom, it gives me a lot of strength. Ladies and gentlemen, you may enter. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to open the hearing. We will examine the case of the accused Justyna Wydrzynska. In the courtroom, Jerzy Kwaźniewski, the president of Ordo Luris, takes a.

Prominent position right next to the prosecutor. I'm handing you my power of attorney, your honor. I represent myself. Here is the authorization. Justina has to answer the judge's questions. Will the accused please stand up? Have you been in direct contact with the person to whom these pills were sent? No. No contact.

No, I had no contact. But within a quarter of an hour, there is a dramatic turn of events. Madam Judge, due to the absence of witnesses, I request that the hearing be postponed or halted. The trial is postponed. The man who filed the complaint against Justina, the husband of the woman who took the abortion pill, has not come to the hearing.

I am closing the hearing for today. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Justina will face another trial in three months. I am furious that the hearing didn't take place today. It's a waste of time, because right now I could be answering the phone and supporting people who need my help, but I had to come here. This is the second time that the witness has failed to come forward and the trial has been adjourned. Every time I have to come here, it costs me more.

I think this is the direction to shut us down, to close our mouth, to not support people because of the fear we should feel. I don't feel any fear because of this. I know what I'm doing and I know that this is right, what I should do. MALCOLM BRABANT, Outside the courthouse, Justina has to face another ordeal. The anti-abortion activists don't hesitate to use shock tactics to undermine her.

They broadcast the cries of newborn babies. For me, I try to not think that they are here, like they are existing, because for me it's a waste of energy to focus on them, really. In March 2023, Justina was finally sentenced to eight months of community service. She is appealing the verdict. Long before this sensational trial in 2021, thousands of people came into the streets to protest. Izabela, a 30-year-old young woman, had just died following the refusal of her doctors to end her high-risk pregnancy.

Her sister-in-law Barbara, based in Piszczyna in the south of Poland, remembers the evening that Izabela was admitted to hospital. On the 21st September, Izabela arrived at the maternity unit in Szczyzna in this hospital. Sadly, they didn't take good care of her. Izabela was five and a half months pregnant when her waters broke prematurely. The fetus was suffering from a rare illness incompatible with life. But the doctors were afraid of being prosecuted if they performed an abortion, as they would risk three years in prison. So they waited for the fetus's heart to stop before intervening.

We were in touch with Iza until 11 p.m. Here's what she wrote to us. They can't give me anything. They have to wait until it has stopped by itself. For the foetus is hard to stop eating, but my waters have already broken. Their procedures are horrible. Isabella's condition quickly deteriorated. Two hours after the foetus's death, she succumbed to septic shock. The politicians and the doctors are all guilty of Izabella's death. Izabella had opened her own hairdressers five years before her death.

She always dreamed of opening this salon. She spent most of her time here. She loved her work. It was her passion. Isabella was 30 years old when she died. She left behind a husband and a 9-year-old daughter called Maja. They were like friends. They traveled a lot and sent us photos. Iza wanted to show her daughter the world. Barbara and her family have filed a complaint against the doctors for manslaughter.

They are awaiting trial. Civil liberties have been under threat since the Law and Justice Party came to power in 2015. 70% turnout. It's huge. Thank you to everyone. Poland's leader Andrzej Duda. wants to promote his ultra-conservative vision everywhere, even in schools.

Is there anything else I need to sign? That's all for now. Barbara Nowak is the head of the district education office. She oversees 4,900 state schools. We are primarily concerned with educational supervision. We check that the schools are running smoothly, that the teachers working there are properly qualified, and whether the students are safe and what curriculum is being taught. Catholic symbols are visible everywhere in her office. This is despite the fact that in Poland religion and state are officially separated.

Barbara Nowak is in charge of overseeing the teaching of a new subject in secondary schools dealing with the history of Poland since the end of the Second World War. So here's the textbook for history and present. The new school subject was introduced into our schools so that young Polish people can learn about their history, especially recent history. The textbook was written by a member of the ruling party. Inside, we find a passage about France and one of its icons, Brigitte Bardot.

In the 60s, the sexual revolution undermined the foundations of family life in the West. Divorce and no-string sex became common practice. But human beings can only learn about life within the family. It's the only way to understand the world. In a way, this sums up what's happening in Poland at the moment. I think the Western model of society is headed in the wrong direction. We're neglecting our social, civic and national duties.

I absolutely don't support and don't approve of the aggressive behavior of the LGBT movement which wants to assert itself and impose privileges on us when it has no right to do so. It's a question of civilization. In our Christian civilization, the family model is not up for debate. It's obvious. The family is created by a man, a woman and their children. It has become more and more common to hear opinions like this in Poland. Since the election of Andrzej Duda, homophobic hate speech is on the rise.

During his 2020 election campaign, he compared the LGBT community to an old enemy, communism. Under communism the schools tried to force feed communist ideology to our children. Today our children are forced at a new ideology. This new ideology is neo-bolshevism.

These homophobic attacks are not considered criminal offenses in Poland and are even amplified by the public television channel TVP. In 2019, it broadcast a report about the LGBT community, which was watched by millions of people. The community was portrayed as a threat to Polish identity. The title of the report was Invasion. This is what I call the dominant religion in the West today. You know what I see. A rainbow, an orgy, Sodom and Gomorrah. For 25 minutes, the speakers made one openly homophobic and stigmatizing statement after another.

The LGBT community is even accused of promoting pedophilia. Some organizations now want to normalize pedophilia. These allegations are unsubstantiated. In 2020, the courts ordered TVP to remove this offensive documentary from YouTube. We're going for a walk over there? One man in particular was targeted by this propaganda. He lives in Warsaw. Do you like the sun? The weather is so nice today, let's take a picture.

We love war, so we are living here for 10 years. Right now, I cannot imagine to live in another place in the world. They will not make me change it. And I mean, there's people telling me, oh, go to the West if you like it so much, you have all rights over there. No, I want to fight for it here. Bart Staszewski is an LGBT activist. He has just moved into this apartment with his partner Svalek. And I forgot all these things.

I didn't realize that we still have it. All of those stuff is lying on the floor or in the boxes because we don't have furniture for it. We don't know where is everything. Bart was forced to move because he feared for his safety. My address was known for some of the right-wing activists. For different reasons, on different occasions during my lifetime they could see it easily. So now I'm much more secure. Bart became well-known three years ago. A hundred or so local authorities had signed anti-LGBT charters.

Bart denounced them in his videos. by putting up signs designed to shock. Hello, I'm Bart Staseski, and here's my sign LGBT Free Zone, and I'm currently in one of the cities that proclaimed that they are actually LGBT free. I'm going to hang it here. His videos went viral and made him a thorn in the side of public television. Within a month, his name had been mentioned in 134 damning reports broadcast in prime time. This is just the beginning of an ideological offensive by the far left against traditional Polish values. So it was day after day, from the morning to the evening, they were creating me as an enemy of Poland, which is lying, which is against Poland,

and I should be punished somehow. It's the worst propaganda tool I have ever seen in the hands of the government, which is using this obviously against the people they don't like. As a result of this smear campaign, Bart received a torrent of hatred on social media. My boyfriend makes a list of them, so he sees that there are quite a lot, just from one month that we collected. He receives a hundred threatening messages a month. I'm going to murder you, you son of a bitch. I'll chop your head off with an axe. So I know where you live.

I'm watching the street outside your house. You're just a scumbag and a liar and a Nazi. So it's hurt me a lot thinking about that. Now somebody is comparing me to Hitler, Germany, soldiers, that I am some kind of Nazi. It's horrible. But the only thing that I can do is make a compliment on Facebook and usually it's not working. Now that his face is widely recognized, he has to be even more vigilant. It's quite dangerous. We feel somebody could recognize him and it would be different reaction, not positive. For many Polish people,

this decline in women's rights and LGBT rights is not just due to the government. They also blame the influence of the Catholic Church. The institution is controversial due to its stand against abortion and religious practice is declining. In 2001, 50% of. Polish people attended Sunday Mass. Today, the number is closer to 28 percent, especially in large cities. Krakow, for example, has a population of 800,000.

Paula is the mother of a little girl, Maja. Paula is a student of psychology and lives in Krakow. Wherever I live all around the world, I always go back here. That's home for me. That's the place which defines me, reminds me who I am. But over the past seven years, she hardly recognizes her own country. It's not a private sphere for keeping at home. It's everywhere around us. Maybe in very, very Islamic places of the world, religion mixed with politics. culture as much as here.

The church's interference in public life has led to widespread distrust. Since the conservatives came to power in 2015, positive opinion of the church has fallen from 62% to 41% of society. Maya was not baptized, unlike Paula, who is still part of the church, but not for long. Because in a few hours, Paula will be an apostate, the definitive annulment of her baptism. Her best friend has come to support her. Take a look, read it and tell me if you're convinced. the declaration of intent.

According to the articles, the Constitution is in the matter of leaving the Church with no possible return. Likewise, according to the decrees, there are so many laws quoted. Yes, they have to protect themselves. To leave the Catholic Church, Paula first had to obtain her baptismal certificate from the parish where she was baptized. Then, She had to give her reasons for doing so in writing. I took this decision because the religious of pedophilia in the church and also makes insulting comments about sexual minorities and women.

Paula could simply have stopped going to church, but she wanted to be totally, officially expelled. It's a bit like giving up being Polish, actually. I'm very proud of Pola and I wish I could do it myself, but my family reason won't let me do it. They meet in church, they talk about church and so on, so that's the part of life in small villages. That's why church is so strong. There are no official figures for the extent of apostasy in Poland. The church keeps them secret, even though it recognizes the issue.

Bye. No, I don't know. Okay, bye. But according to several groups on social media, it affects tens of thousands of people, especially since the new law on abortion. Paula has to justify herself to the priest for half an hour. How did it go? I was consequent with my actions from A to Z. I wanted to leave and finally I left, so I feel relieved. This document confirming her official departure from the church is signed by her parish priest.

Here's everything that she is now forbidden to do. Which is stating that I won't be able to work for the church. I won't be able to be a part of the. and the kind of associations and organizations connected with the church, and I want to have a Catholic funeral. More and more Polish people like Paula are opposed to the church and the government's conservatism. According to recent polling, the Law and Justice Party could even lose its majority at the next elections in 2023.