Into the midst of riotous squabblers
   God sounds his gong;
Here is the Slavic Pope, your new ruler;
   Make way, applaud.
This one will not, like Italians before him,
   Flee sworded throngs;
Our world disdainer will fight like a tiger,
   Fearless like God.

Sunshine resplendent shall be his countenance,
   Light shining true,
That we may follow him into the radiance
   Where God resides.
Multitudes growing obey all his orders,
   His prayers too:
He tells the sun to stand still in the heavens,
   And it abides.

Now he approaches, the one who distributes
   Global new might,
He who can make blood circulate backwards
   Inside our veins.
Now in our hearts the pulsation starts flowing,
   Heavenly light;
Power is a spirit, turns thought into actron
   Inside his brain.

And we need power in order to carry
   This world of ours;
Here comes our Slavic Pope to the rescue,
   Brother of mankind.
Angel batallions dust off his throne with
   Whisks made of flowers,
While he pours lotion onto our bosom,
   Pontiff benign.

He will distribute love like a warlord
   Passes out arms;
His strength sacramental will gather the cosmos
   Into his palms.

Then will he send glad tidings to flutter
   Like Noah’s dove:
News that the spirit’s here and acknowledged,
   Shining alone.
And we shall see part nicely before him
   The sky above.
He’ll stand on his throne, illumined, creating
   Both world and throne.

His voice will transfrom the nations to brethren.
   Burnt offerings
Circle the spirits in their march toward
   Their final goal.
Strength sacramental of hundreds of nations
   Will help our king
See that the spirits’ work overpowers
   Death’s mournful toll.

The wounds of the world shall he cleanse, and banish
   Rot. pus and all–
He will redeem the world and bring to it
   Both health and love.
He shall sweep clean the insides of churches
   And clear the hall,
And then reveal the Lord our Creator
   Shining above.

Translated by Sandra Celt

Pośród niesnasek Pan Bóg uderza
W ogromny dzwon,
Dla słowiańskiego oto papieża
Otworzył tron.

Ten przed mieczami tak nie uciecze
Jako ten Włoch,
On śmiało, jak Bóg, pójdzie na miecze;
Świat mu to proch!

Twarz jego, słowem rozpromieniona,
Lampa dla sług,
Za nim rosnące pójdą plemiona
W światło, gdzie Bóg.

Na jego pacierz i rozkazanie
Nie tylko lud
Jeśli rozkaże, to słońce stanie,
Bo moc to cud!

On się już zbliża rozdawca nowy
Globowych sił:
Cofnie się w żyłach pod jego słowy
Krew naszych żył;

W sercach się zacznie światłości bożej
Strumienny ruch,
Co myśl pomyśli przezeń, to stworzy,
Bo moc to duch.

A trzeba mocy, byśmy ten pański
Dźwignęli świat:
Więc oto idzie papież słowiański,
Ludowy brat;

Oto już leje balsamy świata
Do naszych łon,
A chór aniołów kwiatem umiata
Dla niego tron.

On rozda miłość, jak dziś mocarze
Rozdają broń,
Sakramentalną moc on pokaże,
Świat wziąwszy w dłoń;

Gołąb mu słowa w hymnie wyleci,
Poniesie wieść,
Nowinę słodką, że duch już świeci
I ma swą cześć;

Niebo się nad nim piękne otworzy
Z obojga stron,
Bo on na świecie stanął i tworzy
I świat, i tron.

On przez narody uczyni bratnie,
Wydawszy głos,
Że duchy pójdą w cele ostatnie
Przez ofiar stos;

Moc mu pomoże sakramentalna
Narodów stu,
Moc ta przez duchy będzie widzialna
Przed trumną tu.

Takiego ducha wkrótce ujrzycie
Cień, potem twarz:
Wszelką z ran świata wyrzuci zgniłość,
Robactwo, gad,

Zdrowie przyniesie, rozpali miłość
I zbawi świat;
Wnętrze kościołów on powymiata,
Oczyści sień,
Boga pokaże w twórczości świata,
Jasno jak dzień.

My commentary:

“All Poles are…” is one of the most famous misstatements and pejoratives in the history of the world. Whether it comes from misinformation, a lack of historical study, or with an intent to defame, it none-the-less conveys stereotyping which is false at best and slanderous at worst. In that vein, it should be understood that not all Poles are Catholic, and among Polish Catholics few are Ultramontanist Roman Catholics.

Polish intellectuals, and later working class Poles did not regard the papacy as a constant, and at times they saw it as working against the interests of their country.

As far back as 1475, Jan Ostroróg wrote against papal power and church courts and advocated for a tax levy on the church for National defense in Pro Republicae OrdinationePoland, A Historical Atlas by Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski. He says in partTranslated by Michael J. Mikoś:

A painful and inhuman burden also oppresses the Kingdom of Poland, which is otherwise completely free, in another way, because we allow ourselves to be cheated and deceived to such a degree by the constant cunning of the Italians, and under the guise of piety, which is rather a falsification of teaching and a superstition: we permit big sums of money to be sent annually to the Roman court, as they call it, in the payment of a big tribute, called the bishop’s tribute or the annates … It is known that the German and Polish noblemen allowed the Apostolic See to collect the annates for only a few years in order to restrain the enemies of the Christian faith and to check the cruel Turk in his attacks. And this is certain: these few allotted years have long since passed, and the annates destined for other uses are channelled elsewhere. It is therefore necessary to stop this false piety, and the pope should not be a tyrant under the cloak of faith, but on the contrary, a benevolent father, just as merciful as the one whom he claims to represent on earth.

In The Role of Polish and American Identities in the Future of the Polish National Catholic Church, Jeffrey M. JozefskiPolish American Studies, Vol. 65, No. 2, Autumn 2008. notes:

Bishop Hodur also encouraged his followers to read the newest generation of nationalistic Polish authors, describing “messianic” writers Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki and Ignacy Krasiński as “great minds.” These three writers have also been described as “Bishop Hodur’s favorite literary trio.” Messianic literature was popular among the congregations of the PNCC, especially those which had come to label Poland as the “Christ of nations” that would eventually be resurrected. The first PNCC “Special Synod” in 1906 described Mickiewicz and Słowacki as heroes for their courageous literary attacks on the Pope and encouraged every Polish family to own not only the Holy Scriptures, but also the works of these three writers. The synod especially recommended Księgi Pielgryzmstwa Polskiego (Books of the Polish Pilgrimage), as well as mentioning Jan Ostroróg and Stanisław Orzechowski as Polish literary heroes who had advocated for a “national” or otherwise more autonomous Catholic Church in Poland.

Bishop Hodur obviously held Słowacki in high esteem. Słowacki’s poem, cited above, should be seen in historical context as an indictment of a papacy enamored of earthly power, a papacy that needed a change, a Pope of the Spirit. This poem supports Bishop Hodur’s stance against the papacy as it had evolved and, contrary to “popular beliefThe poem is often cited as a prophecy regarding the election of a Polish Pope. Those who cite the poem as such have no sense of Polish history, no understanding of Słowacki as a poet, nor any sense of what the poet is trying to convey.,” was not a premonition of Karol Wojtyla’sWojtyla’s work as Bishop of Rome did much to heal the the notion of Vatican ambivalence toward Poland. His leadership in the fight against Communism is of particular note. His mere election was an ego booster for many Poles at home and in the diaspora. However, his work has not been met with wholesale approval and his concentration on Polish issues has tarred him in the eyes of some Roman Catholics. See John Paul II: ‘Santo, ma non subito’ by John L. Allen Jr. of the National Catholic Reporter for instance. election to the office of Bishop of Rome. Słowacki was advocating for a leader that would be greater than a Pope of Rome, but rather a Pope of the Spirit that would free men and nations to see Christ more clearly:

He shall sweep clean the insides of churches
   And clear the hall,
And then reveal the Lord our Creator
   Shining above.

A critical analysis of Słowacki’s work and his times indicates that Słowacki was anything but an admirer of the office of the Bishop of Rome as it existed in his day.

In Chapter VI – Polonia Semper Fidelis of The Eternal Church in a Changing World: The Relationship of the Church and World in the Thought of John Paul II by Maciej Zięba, the author notes:

The constant threat to the faith, in the beginning from the anti-Catholic policies of Prussia and Russia, later from Nazi Germany and then from the communist government imposed on Poland by the USSR had the effect of making fidelity to the Church the most valued quality to Polish Catholics. In the face of a direct threat to the Faith and an official policy aiming at promoting discord among the faithful, doctrinal controversies or political disputes could have had real and dangerous consequences. Thus building up and maintaining the unity of the Church became the essential task for all Catholics.

This fidelity was not necessarily totally uncritical. The conciliatory policy of the papacy towards the tsarist regime was often criticized in Poland. In turn, when Cardinal Wyszynski was triumphantly greeted in Rome after his release from a Stalinist prison, Pius XII ostentatiously punished him for his political independence (in seeking a modus vivendi with the communist regime!) by having him wait for days for a Vatican audience. Some newer events might serve as examples of the same independence of thought. In August 1980, Cardinal Wyszynski made an appeal to abandon strikes. The workers listened to his words with obvious respect for the speaker, but then quietly ignored them. Again, in 1989, some well-known candidates, supported by the present Primate, Cardinal Glemp, were soundly defeated at the polls.

For Słowacki and other similarly situated Polish patriots the constant betrayals of Polish sovereignty at the hand of the Popes, who supported the Russian, Prussian, and Austro-Hungarian division of Poland, was proof positive that the Popes were not leaders of the Spirit nor protectors of Polish self determination or rights.

In the Review Article, After the Blank Spots Are Filled: Recent Perspectives on Modern PolandThe Journal of Modern History Vol. 79 (March 2007): pages 134—“161, The University of Chicago., Padraic Kenney writes:

Jerzy Kloczowski’s History of Polish Christianity is thus a valuable companion to any encounter with Polish history. The themes Kloczowski emphasizes will probably not surprise any student of church or religious history, but they are not always fully appreciated by other historians. In the early modern period, Kloczowski argues that a drift from rigor toward moderation in religious practice kept Poland Catholic through the Reformation, even as Orthodoxy and Calvinism continued to be part of the common environment. Polish Catholicism was deep but not strict, a folk religiosity in which adherence to ritual and fervent faith did not mean observance of church teachings.

The gap between belief and action emerged most strongly during the nineteenth—century uprisings. Famously, both the Vatican and the Polish episcopate withheld support for uprisings against the Russian tsar; the unity of church and nation is a post—uprising construct. Still, the church enjoyed two signal advantages in the era of partitions. First, it was the only institution that crossed partition borders; thus, to think of a Poland restored was to think of the Catholic Church, too. Second, individual priests—”such as those immortalized in the drawings of Artur Grottger (1837—“67)—”joined the uprisings, especially the January Uprising of 1863. Yet the powerful traditions of both popular and intellectual anticlericalism in Poland—”a legacy largely destroyed by the double blow of Nazi occupation and Communist rule—”can be found only between the lines in Kloczowski’s account. Kloczowski asserts that anticlericalism was a —marginal phenomenon,— restricted to a part of the intelligentsia and isolated pockets of industrial workers. Stauter—Halsted, in contrast, explores growing resistance to clerical authority from the 1880s onward, as peasant leaders came to value the secular schoolteacher more. The relationship of Pole to structures of authority and to cultures of tradition still needs to be examined…

Over and over betrayals came to light as ostensibly Catholic leaders, political and religious, were faced with the bitter experience of Vatican double dealing, sometimes at the hands of their fellow countrymen in the CuriaBishop Hodur met with Mieczysław Cardinal Ledochowski, Prefect of the Propaganda, who roundly rejected pleas from his fellow countrymen who were being abandoned by their bishops.. Słowacki criticized the Pope’s failure to support the insurrection against Tsarist (and Orthodox) Russia. In The Sarmatian Review’sThe Sarmatian Review, issue: 02/2002, pages: 865-869 reprint of Pan Beniowski, Final Part of Canto Five, we find:

But oh my Prophet-Bard! Where are you going?
What harbor beacon lights your way, and where?
Either you founder in the depths of Slavonic atavism
Or with your lightning mind you sweep up
The refuse and drive it at the Pontiff’s triple crown.
I know your harbors and coastlands! I shall not go
With you, or go your false way —” I shall take
Another road! —” and the nation will go with me!

The footnotes to the verse state:

Słowacki also alludes to Mickiewicz’s audience with Pope Pius IX in 1848 during which the Pope expressed disapproval of revolutionary activity. Mickiewicz allegedly grabbed the Pope’s sleeve and exclaimed that God is on the side of the Paris workers. In 1848, Pius IX secretly signed a concordat with Russia, thereby abandoning the cause of Polish Catholics in the Russian empire and joining the reactionary circle of European rulers desirous to retain at any price whatever was left of the old regimes.

From the time of Ostroróg to the First World War, when Roman Dmowski traveled to Rome to ask for assistance in gaining Poland’s independence, and was greeted with open disfavor, Poles have understood Słowacki’s famous statement: “Poland, thy doom comes from Rome (Krzyż twym papieżem jest – twa zguba w Rzymie!Pan Beniowski, Book I)” Which subsequent events proved was more than prophetic.