Warsaw police have deflected concerns raised by Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders about police training material that presents a distorted picture of religious minorities.  (See ANN’s October 31 story, “Anti-sect Police Training Challenged by Adventists in Poland.”) Police spokesperson Pawel Biedziak told Keston News Service that it is true that the Roman Catholic Church has provided training materials for the police’s anti-sect units, but he said that police were more often accused of being “too careful” rather than too severe with new religious groups.

Biedziak said that local police received training focused on potential criminal activities of religious sects, rather than their “world view or moral position.”

Adventist leaders expressed concern about police anti-sect training at an October 13 meeting with General Jan Michna, Poland’s police chief. They cited examples of derogatory language and misinformation repeated by police trainers that could increase discriminatory attitudes towards minority religious groups.  At the meeting, Michna assured church leaders that all law-abiding church groups would be considered “valued and respected” organizations.

In a country where only 5 percent of the almost 40 million citizens claim non-Catholic religious affiliation, religious minorities—including Baptist and Pentecostal groups—have reported instances of misunderstanding and discrimination. According to Adventist Church administrators, an Adventist pastor in the city of Zamosc has been turned away from schools because of education ministry literature that calls the Adventist Church a “threatening sect.”