Polish bishops appeal for dialogue as constitutional court standoff deepens

Polandʼs bishops have appealed for de-escalation and prayer amid a deepening standoff over the countryʼs Constitutional Tribunal, warning that the dispute is driving a “deep crisis of the state.”

“It is not the role of the Church to adjudicate the causes of this dispute or the responsibility for the lack of its resolution,” the Presidium of the Polish Bishops' Conference, headed by Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gdańsk, said in an Oct. 31 statement .

The Polish prelates called on politicians to calm the conflict and asked for “the initiation of constructive dialogue and the peaceful resolution of all difficulties."

The bishops appealed to the faithful to pray “for light and wisdom for the rulers and all those responsible for public life.”

Archbishop Wojciech Polak of Gniezno, Polandʼs primate, urged all sides of the political dispute to “seek a common solution” through talks. The heads of Polandʼs religious orders called for dialogue “on the basis of respect for the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the applicable legal order.”

Archbishop Andrzej Przybylski of Katowice and military Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz also urged prayer.

A fight over the bench The…