Catholics work to head off conflicts over Polish migrants in U.K.

Published: 2008-03-28

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Catholic Church leaders have been working to head off a possible conflict about pastoral jurisdiction over the estimated 1.5 million Polish migrants in the United Kingdom. "Integration affects spiritual and cultural values, so we must give people time and freedom to feel well in their new country of residence without forgetting their old homeland," said Bishop Zygmunt Zimowski of Radom, Poland, the Polish bishops' new delegate for Polish migrants abroad. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster, England, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, addressed the Polish bishops during their early March meeting. On March 6, Polish and British church leaders announced they had set up a new working group to address the issue of Polish migrants in Britain. Bishop Zimowski told Catholic News Service March 18 that Polish church leaders counted on migrants' ability to "maintain values of faith and morality" in England and Wales and believed the Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales should work more closely with the bishops there.

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