Polish cardinal says Church has 'no political ambitions'

“We do not have political ambitions, because we have greater ambitions,” he said during a mass at Wawel Cathedral, one of the country's most sacred national shrines.

“Here on earth, in our hearts, in our families, in our communities and in our immediate circles we would like to build God's kingdom of love and solidarity, forgiveness, reconciliation and peace,” he said.

The cardinal, who served for many years as secretary to the late Polish pontiff Pope John Paul II, had criticised policies backed by the previous centrist government, before it was voted out on 25 October.

During a Corpus Christ homily in June, he had referred to parliament's ratification of the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women. Although he condemned violence, he argued that the convention was based on “the false ideology of gender.”

He likewise said that the then government's policy of providing state funding for in vitro fertilisation was “extraordinarily liberal,” arguing that IVF is “immoral,” as stressed by Catholic teaching.

The Law and Justice party, which won the general election on 25 October, vehemently opposed the IVF policy of the previous government, and the current health minister has stated that the programme will not be renewed beyond 2016. (nh)