The Sejm cross ( pl, Krzyż sejmowy) is a

Catholic 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 ...

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

in the building of the

Sejm of the Republic of Poland The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

, the lower house of the

Polish parliament The parliament of Poland is the bicameral legislature of Poland. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Sejm). Both houses are accommodated in the ''Sejm'' complex in Warsaw. The Constitution of Poland does not ...

. The Sejm cross hangs above the door on the left-hand side of the rostrum in the Sejm Plenary Hall. It was hung there by a

Solidarity Electoral Action Solidarity Electoral Action ( pl, Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność, AWS) was a political coalition in Poland from 1996 to 2001. From 1997 to 2001, its official name was ''Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność Prawicy'' (AWSP) or Electoral Action Solidarity ...

(AWS) MP Tomasz Wójcik and his colleague in the night between October 19 and 20 of 1997, shortly after the AWS and the Freedom Union signed a coalition agreement. The cross was a gift from the mother of Fr.

Jerzy Popiełuszko Jerzy Popiełuszko ( born Alfons Popiełuszko; 14 September 1947–19 October 1984) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest who became associated with the opposition Solidarity trade union in communist Poland. He was murdered in 1984 by three ag ...

, priest and martyr murdered by the

Służba Bezpieczeństwa The Ministry of Public Security ( pl, Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), commonly known as UB or later SB, was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it w ...

( communist

political police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...

) in 1984. The

spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

of the

Democratic Left Alliance The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in Pol ...

(SLD) protested against the presence of the cross in the Sejm, saying that it was hung there in order to provoke a brawl. Other opponents called it a violation of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

(which came into effect two days before the act) which states that the Republic of Poland is neutral in religious matters. Nobody disputed the fact that the hanging of the cross was illegal - Wójcik got into the Sejm chamber without any approval and other MPs had never discussed the issue before. Nonetheless, the cross has been hanging in the chamber ever since - even when the

won the elections in 2001. In 2011 the Chancellery of the Sejm commissioned and publishedLegal opinions on the request of the Palikot Movement Parliamentary Club regarding the removal of the Latin cross located in the Plenary Hall of the Sejm (in Polish, "Zeszyty Prawnicze Biura Analiz Sejmowych" No 4/2011, p. 53-112)
/ref> four legal opinions concerning the presence of the cross in the Sejm Plenary Hall.

References

{{Reflist 1997 in Poland Religious controversies in Poland Crucifixes Sejm Catholic nationalism 1997 controversies Conservatism in Poland Catholicism in Poland Polish nationalism

See also

References