Pope Francis has urged his followers to open their hearts and parishes to refugees seeking shelter in Europe, but predominantly Catholic Poles are struggling to heed that call amid widespread fears that Muslim arrivals will threaten their jobs and security.
Thousands of Poles gathered in the rain Saturday at two different spots in Warsaw for opposing rallies: one by radical right-wingers against hosting the refugees and the other in support of helping those in need.
The protest rally soon transformed into a march, with protesters waving national white-and-red flags and chanting "Today refugees, tomorrow terrorists!" and "Poland, free of Islam!" Police in riot gear warily watched out for possible violence.
Days before the rallies, Poles were already voicing reservations.
"On the question of taking in immigrants, Pope Francis is wrong," Jaroslaw Gowin, a prominent Catholic politician, said Friday. "In no case should we take in Muslims."
Even the spokesman for Caritas, the Catholic charity, voiced resistance to taking in refugees. Pawel Keska told The Associated Press that "it is impossible to follow Francis' gesture in Poland now, because we have no Syrian refugees."
Such criticism of the pope may be surprising in one of the most Catholic nations in Europe, but it reflects the general mood in a country with very little ethnic diversity. Many people also argue that the former communist country, despite its recent economic growth, is still far too poor to afford to take in refugees.
"First we should take care of poor families in Poland. And then, yes, then we can help the refugees," said Monika Kuta, a single mother.
A cartoon Friday in the Super Express tabloid showed homeless men under a bridge saying, "We will gladly take immigrants. There is still a lot of room under our bridge."
The European Union wants Poland to accept 12,000 migrants. Warsaw has agreed to receive 2,000 within two years and says it has capacity for more provided they are refugees, not economic migrants.
Not all Poles were against helping refugees.
Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity freedom movement in the 1980s, said he would be willing to host refugees under his own roof and would even cook for them — if his wife agrees.
"We have to share our last slice of bread with those in need. We are humans," Walesa said, but stressed "we must do everything to prevent them from destabilizing our situation."
A county near the Baltic Sea coast, Gniewino, became the first place in Poland in recent days to declare it can host and offer jobs to three Syrian families, while parishioners in the western city of Poznan have collected over 24,000 zlotys ($6,300) to help house refugees.
(AP)
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