At the Christ the King parish in Bolesławiec, an incident occurred during Sunday Mass when the priest interrupted his sermon because of the children’s behavior. The older son of a mother attending the service tried to calm his younger brother by pushing him around the church in a stroller, which prompted the priest to react. The clergyman ordered the boy to go outside and continue walking around the church. Parish priest Zbigniew Pędziwiatr explained in an interview with o2.pl that the liturgy requires peace and quiet, and that the mother should leave with the child if she cannot control him.
According to the parish priest, around 200 people attending Mass were unable to concentrate on the sermon because of the noise caused by the children. He noted that parents are responsible for their children’s behavior during the service and that the woman’s conduct was inappropriate. “Would it be better for the child to scream throughout the entire Mass?” the clergyman asked rhetorically, suggesting that she should have left the church so as not to disrupt the prayer. The parish priest also added that people are too quick to turn situations that are not sensational into a sensation.
“This is persecution of the Church,” Father Zbigniew Pędziwiatr concluded in his conversation with the o2 website.
Father Paweł Gużyński, a Dominican, also spoke on the matter, emphasizing the need for reasonableness on both sides. He pointed out that children’s participation in Mass can be problematic and requires suitable conditions. He also mentioned that a church is not always the right place for small children, just as in a theater or philharmonic hall, where appropriate behavior is also expected.
Father Pędziwiatr expressed his disappointment that the matter had become the subject of a media debate, pointing out that people are increasingly criticizing the Church for things that were previously accepted as social norms.