In response to the Seventh-day Adventist Church's inquiry into a directive issued by the Department of Prevention for the Gdansk police aimed at investigating churches and religious groups, a letter from the General Police Headquarters in Warsaw cites the
In response to the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s inquiry into a directive issued by the Department of Prevention for the Gdansk police aimed at investigating churches and religious groups, a letter from the General Police Headquarters in Warsaw cites the “editorial awkwardness” of a Gdansk police inspector whose letter shook the church establishment in Poland.
In an official directive issued Feb. 20 and signed by Witold Murczkiewicz, chief of the Department of Prevention for the Gdansk police, local police offices in the Pomerania Province were instructed to create files and collect information on “destructive sects and new religious movements.”
Responding to an open protest from the Adventist Church issued April 9 [see ANN Bulletin, May 6, 2003], officials informed the church that there is another letter from the Gdansk police, dated Feb. 28, in which it corrects its interpretation as to who is to be excluded from the investigation.
“It was explained unequivocally that a list of legally operated churches and religious denominations in the territory of Pomerania Province was included for information only,” the May 14 letter from the police headquarters states. The letter further explains that the second Gdansk letter was intended to clarify the issue in order to “distinguish them from illegally functioning destructive groups.”
In response, Andrzej Sicinski, secretary of the Adventist Church in Poland, said that the church welcomed “efforts to fully and reliably explain the issue addressed by us.” He also requested that the church receive a copy of the Feb. 28 letter in order to better evaluate the intentions expressed by the police unit in Gdansk.
Despite the assurances in the letter, Adventist church sources in Poland are concerned that some members of the Pomerania Province police force are not aware of constitutional protections for religious groups. Media reports indicate police investigators have approached church representatives and made inquiries regarding their activities.
