Defeat for Polish bishops on domestic violence convention

Michael — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:05:15 +0000

Poland's Catholic bishops have suffered a defeat with the approval by the nation's president of an international convention combating violence against women.

The Council of Europe convention creates the world's first legal framework for curbing psychological and sexual violence.

It also criminalises forced marriages, stalking, and female genital mutilation.

President Bronislaw Komorowski signed a government bill that will permit the ratification of the 2011 Convention.

In a February statement, the Polish bishops' conference said the convention reflected an "extreme, neo-Marxist ideology of gender".

The convention also seeks to replace a social model linked to Christian tradition and culture with "a model of total liberty and self-realisation arising from a Leftist, secular culture", the bishops said.

The bishops added that the convention said nothing about violence associated with media images, pornography, abortion, alcohol and drug abuse.

Defeat for Polish bishops on domestic violence convention

Bronislaw Komorowski - CathNews New Zealand

Defeat for Polish bishops on domestic violence convention