The case dates back to 2021, when Bolesławiec journalist Krzysztof Gwizdała, a resident of the Piastów housing estate, pointed out to the parish priest that the bells in the church on Jana Pawła II Street were too loud and that their sound interfered with work and rest. Gwizdała suggested that the priest shorten the time the bells rang. Parish priest Zbigniew Pędziwiatr ignored Gwizdała’s letter. The journalist therefore referred the matter to the Regional Environmental Protection Inspectorate. The inspectorate did nothing for more than six months because it knew that the law would change and that the county governor would have to deal with the matter. That is what happened.

In 2022, the county office found that the priest could ring the bells because it was a tradition. Gwizdała appealed to the Local Government Appeals Board, however, and the court upheld Gwizdała’s position and additionally ordered county governor Gabrysiak to measure the noise level generated by the bells. Wrocław University of Science and Technology handled the measurements. It turned out that at the boundary of the plot where the blocks on Jana Pawła Street stand, the noise level exceeded the limit by more than 10 dB. That is a very substantial exceedance. In August 2022, the county governor therefore issued a decision setting the permissible noise level and ordering the bells to be adjusted to the applicable regulations; otherwise, they may not be used.

The parish priest disagreed with the decision and is pursuing every available legal avenue to keep ringing the bells. First, Pędziwiatr appealed to the Local Government Appeals Board (SKO) in Jelenia Góra, but that body upheld the county governor’s decision. The appeal also included a request to suspend the county governor’s decision, meaning that the parish could ring the bells until the full legal process was completed. The SKO refused. Pędziwiatr then filed a complaint against the SKO’s decision with the Provincial Administrative Court (WSA) and once again requested that the county governor’s decision be suspended. The WSA immediately refused to suspend the decision, while it is still considering the complaint. Pędziwiatr and his lawyer did not give up, however, and decided to file a cassation appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) against the WSA’s ruling concerning the suspension of the county governor’s decision.

In January 2024, however, the NSA upheld the WSA’s decision and refused to suspend the county governor’s decision. This means that the priest still may not ring the bells.

“I am impressed by how extensively the parish priest and the parish are using every regulation and legal avenue simply to ring the bells again. It is a pity that the Catholic Church and its representatives are not so legally persistent when it comes to priests breaking the law or social norms,” says Krzysztof Gwizdała.

The NSA’s January decision concludes the matter of any possible suspension of the county governor’s decision. Legally, the decision remains in force and the parish must comply with it. Now all that remains is to await the WSA’s ruling on the parish’s general complaint against the decision.

“Considering the case law to date and the fact that the Catholic Church, bishops and priests are ceasing to be treated as sacred cows, I expect the decision to be upheld. It is good that Poland is becoming a country where we are all equal before the law and no one is privileged,” Gwizdała adds.

RULING

11 January 2024

The Supreme Administrative Court composed as follows: Presiding Judge: NSA Judge Teresa Zyglewska

Having considered, on 11 January 2024, in a closed session of the General Administrative Chamber, the application of Christ the King Parish, based in Bolesławiec, to suspend enforcement of the challenged decision in the case concerning the cassation appeal of Christ the King Parish, based in Bolesławiec, against the judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Wrocław of 17 August 2023, case file no. II SA/Wr 91/23, in the case concerning the complaint of Christ the King Parish, based in Bolesławiec, against the decision of the Local Government Appeals Board in Jelenia Góra of 30 November 2022, no. SKO/41/OŚ-25/2022, concerning the setting of the permissible noise level during the daytime

rules as follows:

to refuse to suspend enforcement of the challenged decision.