For several days, strict coronavirus restrictions have been in force in Poland. Many businesses and public places have been closed. The Catholic Church has been treated differently. Churches may have one person present per 20 m².

It turns out that some churches are not complying with these regulations. At the Parish of Christ the King in Bolesławiec, there were several dozen too many people during the Good Friday liturgy.

A journalist from istotne.pl responded and called 112. There he encountered the first problem, because the operator made it difficult to file the report.

– There were almost three times as many people in the church as the regulations allowed. The 112 operator was unpleasant and mockingly asked whether I went around churches counting people. Only after I firmly demanded twice that he accept the report and pass it on to the police did he do so. When I came to take photographs documenting the situation, people outside the church threatened that I would get myself into trouble and that “karma” would come back (karma actually comes from another religious system). In turn, councillor Dawid Sarbak, who was in the church, asked that the information not be published – says the journalist from istotne.pl

The police officers who arrived to intervene did not enter the church or check whether people were wearing masks and keeping their distance. They said they would wait until the gathering ended and then count the people leaving the church.

On Saturday, the police spokesperson officially announced:

In connection with the report and intervention concerning the number of people attending the service in the church, explanatory proceedings will be conducted in a case involving a minor offense.

How do the police respond in England?

The situation is completely different in the United Kingdom. On Friday, London police officers entered a Polish church and interrupted the service. The officers informed those present that sanitary restrictions had been breached and that the gathering was unlawful. There is a recording of the incident. The footage shows that some worshippers were not wearing their masks properly, while some altar servers were not wearing them at all.

After an officer ordered it, the parish priest of the Parish of Christ the King in Balham asked the worshippers to leave the church. He also encouraged them to make a “spiritual reception of Holy Communion.”

You can read the full story describing the London police response on the gazeta.pl website: https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114881,26947742,londyn-policjanci-weszli-do-polskiego-kosciola-przerwali-nabozenstwo.html