The cross in front of the Presidential Palace in Poland (also known as the Smolensk Cross, pl, krzyż smoleński) is a wooden

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

which was erected as a memorial to the 96 casualties of the

2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash On 10 April 2010, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft operating Polish Air Force Flight 101 crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. Among the victims were the president of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, Maria, ...

. It was first moved to a chapel in the Presidential Palace on 16 September 2010 and, on 10 November 2010, was again moved, this time to St. Anne's Church, Warsaw, where it currently resides. The cross was controversial, provoking debate in Polish society and media about the issues of

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

, politics, religion and patriotism.

History

The cross was erected spontaneously by a group of

Polish Scouts , type = organization , headquarters = ZHP Headquarters Warsaw , location = Warszawa, Konopnickiej 6 , country = Poland , f-date = 1 November 1918 , founder = Andrzej Małkowski, Olga Małkowska , members = 138,112 , chiefscouttitle = N ...

on 15 April 2010, five days after the plane accident. Among those killed in the crash was Polish President

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. Soon after the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

, in July 2010, the new Polish president,

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercis ...

, from the more centrist

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It ...

(PO) party, requested that the cross be moved to nearby St. Anne's Church. The move was supported by the Scouts who erected the cross in the first place and the

archbishop of Warsaw The following is a list of the bishops and archbishops of Warsaw. On 30 June 1818, the see was elevated to the rank of an archdiocese. Also included are the auxiliary bishops. Bishops of Warsaw: * Józef Miaskowski, 1798–1804 *, Apostolic Adm ...

, but criticized by certain groups, as the issue gained notoriety in the Polish media. The cross was to be moved on 3 August but this caused increasingly vocal protests from the PiS supporters, known as the "defenders of the cross" ( pol. ''obrońcy krzyża''). Most of the defenders believed that the Smolensk air crash was the result of a conspiracy, in which the new Polish government was involved. The defender movement guarded the cross around the clock. The protesters clashed with the police and the cross was not moved on that day. The situation became a contentious issue in Polish politics, as the defenders gained the support of the PiS party. The defenders of the cross clashed with the young supporters of a secularist counter movement, which maintained that in a secular state a cross has no place in a public space and that it should be removed from its prominent position in front of the Presidential Palace. As the defenders, many of them armed with crucifixes, prayed and sang hymns around the cross, their opponents chanted "Go to church" and declared the defenders to be "Catholic fanatics". One of the opponents carried a cross made of beer cans. The two groups were separated by the police who set up metal barriers to prevent clashes. Many were shocked by the rise of the counter movement, as Poland's younger generation had not been considered politically active. On 16 September 2010, the cross was moved to a chapel in the Presidential Palace, this time without a prior announcement, as the government did not want to give the defenders movement an opportunity to prepare for their action. On 10 November 2010, it was moved to St. Anne's Church, Warsaw, where it currently resides.

Debate

The cross provoked a major debate in Polish society and the media about the correct way to honor the victims of the April air crash, the positioning of a

in a public place, relations between the Polish State and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and the actions taken by the Polish government. The cross was seen as a symbol of this debate. Polish media devoted significant attention to the event. In August, all of the major Polish news networks had teams monitoring the situation 24 hours a day. An analysis by the National Broadcasting Council revealed that Polish stations devoted a significant amount of time to coverage of the related events. In regard to news coverage on regular channels, the lead was taken by

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Program I Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Polish channel to be broadcast and remains one ...

(57 min.), followed by

TVP2 TVP 2 (TVP Dwa, ''Program II Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Dwójka"'') is a Polish public mainstream TV channel operated by TVP. Launched in October 1970, its varied line-up contains a variety of programming (documentary, history, talk-shows, game-sh ...

(42 min.),

TVN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

(39 min.) and

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSECPS, wh ...

(35 min.), and for the dedicated Polish news channels,

TVN24 TVN24 is a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, launched on 9 August 2001. Being a part of the TVN Network, TVN24 has been owned since July 2017 by US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery. It gained broader popularity after the Septe ...

(366 min.) was ahead of

TVP Info TVP Info is a Polish free-to-air television news channel, run by the public broadcaster, state media TVP. It is focused on newscasts, airing nationwide news bulletins from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Its main offices are located at the TVP ...

(95 min.). For non-news coverage (discussions, analysis, etc.), the lead was taken by TVN24 (279 min.), followed by TVP Info (249 min.), TVP2 (33 min.). The

Catholic Church in Poland , native_name_lang = , image = Basílica_de_Nuestra_Señora_de_Licheń,_Stary_Licheń,_Polonia,_2016-12-21,_DD_36-38_HDR.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = , caption = Basilica of Our Lady ...

was split on the issue; support by many church officials for the removal of the cross has led to their estrangement from the defenders movement.

References

{{coord, 52, 14, 34, N, 21, 00, 55, E, type:landmark_region:PL-MZ, display=title Memorial crosses Buildings and structures in Warsaw 2010 in Poland Smolensk air disaster Religious controversies in Poland Controversies in Poland Catholic Church in Poland 2010 controversies

History

Debate

See also

References