Warsaw (KNA): For the first time, the Polish parliament will not only invite catholic clergy to its Christmas celebrations this year. Protestant and Orthodox clergy will also receive an invitation to the traditional celebration this time, the president of the Sejm lower house of parliament, Szymon Holownia, said in Warsaw.
If there are to be clergy at the event, then they will be “representatives of all the major Christian denominations in Poland,” said Holownia. The 47-year-old chairman of the liberal-conservative Poland 2050 party has been Marshal of the Sejm since November.
Until now, the MPs have usually gathered in the parliament building in Warsaw shortly before Christmas for a traditional ceremony with Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, the capital’s archbishop. It includes speeches and a Bible reading after which Nycz has spoken and blessed Christmas wafers.
Each member of parliament has been given a wafer and taken it to colleagues to break off a piece and wish each other well. Holownia wants to maintain this Polish custom on Christmas Eve.
In the 2021 census, a good 71 percent of Polish citizens said they were affiliated with the Catholic Church. The second largest denomination is the Orthodox Church with 152,000 members (0.4 percent of the population).