The cross has been removed from outside the Presidential Palace to the palace chapel. Photo: PAPThe Smolensk memorial cross in Warsaw has been removed from outside the Presidential Palace to the palace chapel, in a surprise move which will anger protestors who want the cross to remain where it is.
Palace chief Jacek Michalowski said at a press conference this morning that the cross was taken at 08.00 CET to the palace chapel, where it will remain until an appropriate time when it can be moved to its permanent resting place at the nearby St Anne’s church.
“The prevailing state of affairs was hitting the authority of the state and church, and also hurt the religious feelings of many Poles,” Michalowski said, continuing that “the cross became hostage to a political game, despite the appeal from bishops to move the cross to a more suitable place.”
“I went up to the cross, then four men came and we took it to the Presidential Palace through the main entrance […], only then to place the cross to the left of the altar in the chapel. […] It all took place today without the presence of church authorities,” Michalowski added.
A bitter dispute over the cross has divided Poland, with President Komorowski and the government on one side, who want the cross taken to St Anne’s and the opposition Law and Justice party, lead by Jaroslaw Kaczynski - the twin brother of Lech Kaczynski who died in the Smolensk air crash - on the other.
Disputes have been ongoing since the beginning of August, when a hard-line group, the so-called “Defenders of the Cross" had thwarted all attempts to move the cross to the nearby St Anne's church.
Following the attempt on 3 August to move the cross to the church - when police clashed with protestors - it was decided the cross would be taken on a Pilgrimage leaving two days later to the holy shrine of Jasna Gora in the southern city of Czestochowa, also without success.
Beginning of the end?
The self-styled “Defenders of the Cross” have since started packing up their belongings from outside the nearby Ministry of Culture, where they set up camp during their protests against the cross’s removal.
According to the protestors, they were forced to leave the site by Municipal Police, whose officers demanded that they leave or else their property would be destroyed.
Even though the protestors may move from their site outside the Culture Ministry, they have said they will not leave the grounds opposite the Presidential Palace, where they are to hold vigil until another memorial is placed there.
The cross was erected by the Scouts as a symbol of mourning after the death of President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 others onboard the plane crashed on landing at Smolensk Severny airport. (pg/jb)
Audio by Magdalena Jensen
Sources: IAR/PAP
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