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Pozna maja, May 21, 2026
Statement by the Bishop
of the Reformed Catholic Church in Poland
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In recent days, there has been a lot of false information in the media and social media about a service organized by the Reformed Catholic Church in Poland on the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) taking place as part of the Equality May in Cracow.
We firmly reject the suggestions that our event was financed from the budget of the City of Cracow. This is not true.
What is particularly unfortunate is that the people and environments spreading this information have not even tried to verify it with the organizers. We perceive this as a deliberate attempt to manipulate and arouse social emotions around LGBT+ people and the Christian communities that show them support.
We expect elementary reliability and responsibility from the public and media for published content.
We are also observing with anxiety a wave of offensive comments towards our Church.
In the public space, there are terms that "we have no clergy", we are a "sect" or "we parody the Holy Mass". These are false accusations and appear to be a deliberate and deliberate attempt to discredit our Church.
We would like to remind you that religious freedom and freedom of conscience, as well as the right to public expression, are fundamental human rights and constitute one of the foundations of a democratic state of law. It is also guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, ensuring all citizens the freedom of religion, religious practices and equal treatment of religious communities. So, we look at the attempts to undermine the rights of smaller Churches to be in public, pray and minister in accordance with their own tradition and doctrine.
The Reformed Catholic Church in Poland is a Christian Church of the Old Catholic tradition. Our spirituality grows out of the faith of the undivided Church of the first millennium. We remain in full ecclesiastical communion with the Churches affiliated with the Ecumenical Catholic Community, participating in the official ecumenical dialogue.
Many Old Catholic Churches in the world have led an open and inclusive ministry towards LGBT+ people for years, also organizing services on the occasion of IDAHOBIT. We are also a part of Christianity that does not exclude anyone from God's love and place in the Church.
In a democratic society, there is space for both majority and smaller Churches communities and religious communities. Freedom to pray and religion cannot depend on one's spirituality corresponds to dominating political or religious views.
Praying for LGBT+ people, their safety, dignity, and peace of heart is not a "provocation" or an "ideology". It is an expression of the Christian responsibility for another person and a consequence of the Gospel, which calls to love thy neighbor, and not to spread contempt and fear.
We meet to pray, do the liturgy, and accompany people. We are proud to have been an advocate for LGBT+ people for years and will continue to do so despite attempts to discredit our ministry and mission. Our role model remains Jesus Christ, who stood for the rejected, marginalized and wounded by religious hypocrisy.
Our community has been operating in Krakow for over a decade. During this time, we have sought to build a space of prayer, safety, and mutual respect for all people according to our principle of "everyone is welcome."
Thanks to everyone who, despite the growing hatred, seek the truth, are not manipulated and can communicate with respect.
We also thank all the individuals and communities supporting LGBT+ people, who, as we can clearly see, continue to need our ally, presence and solidarity.
We believe that the public space can be a place of dialogue, truth and mutual respect, even when we have different views or religious sensitivity.
As a Christian community, we are not going to respond with contempt for contempt. We seek to continue to be an open, prayerful and present Church.
Bishop Thomas Puchalski
Bishop of the Reformed Catholic Church in Poland
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