Another controversial piece of news connected with the Catholic Church. The parish priest of the Divine Mercy Parish in Ropica Polska (Lesser Poland Voivodeship) made the administration of the sacrament of Confirmation conditional on whether the prospective confirmand signed a rather unusual declaration. Here is an excerpt:
I, the undersigned candidate for the Sacrament of Christian Maturity, in the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, declare that I do not support the so-called Women’s Strike: demands and claims contrary to the content and principles of our Catholic faith, as might be indicated by materials originating from the Women’s Strike websites and my personal photographs that have been present on my Facebook account for an extended period and distributed among my male and female classmates.
(Quoted after rp.pl).
Those receiving Confirmation were also supposed to declare that they had removed such content from their social media accounts. (Or that they would do so.)
The matter was brought to public attention by the gorlice24.pl website:
Such sheets appeared yesterday in the homes of students from the Primary School in Ropica Polska. As can be seen, the teenagers are being forced by the local parish priest to give up having their own opinions; he is denying them the freedom to express their views by threatening not to allow them to receive Confirmation if they refuse to submit the declaration, as well as refusing to remove any photographs and information concerning the nationwide “Women’s Strike” campaign.
What do you think?