 |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Editorial:
Thinking about the common good? From
the director: Untold stories Faith
and Politics After Christendom Comment:
Doing the Right Thing Give
Generously and Change the World? Economics
and the Common Good Interview
with Jim Wells (MLA): Polishing our Cars Review:
No Longer Strangers Division
and Diversity: Churches in a plural society Buying
in - Opting out Interview
with Fr Mariusz Dabrowski: Meet the neighbours Questions
& Answers: Reader survey responses Review:
Mark: Gospel of Action Bible
Study: The Common Good Difficult
Conversations: Let's talk about tax... |
|
|
|
| After Poland joined the European Union in 2004, Ireland and the UK (along with Sweden) were the only existing EU members to open their borders to Polish workers. Ireland quickly became a key destination for young Poles seeking work. It is estimated that up to 200,000 Poles now live in the Republic Ireland, constituting the largest ethnic minority by far. | |||
|
|||
|
Fr Mariusz Dabrowski, from Olsztyn in northern Poland, has been in Northern Ireland since May 2006 as part of the Polish Chaplaincy in Ireland. Currently, there are 30,000 Poles living in Northern Ireland, with an estimated 12,000 (though perhaps as many as 18,000) living in Belfast, creating significant demographic changes in the population of cities and smaller towns throughout the province. Seven Polish priests work in the Republic of Ireland: three in Dublin and four others working in Waterford, Galway, Sligo and Limerick respectively. Based in Belfast, Fr Mariusz Dabrowski is the first Polish priest to come to Northern Ireland. Based in St Paul’s Parish in West Belfast, he acts as chaplain to the Polish community throughout Northern Ireland. “MY WORK AS A PRIEST is to serve the Polish community here, to meet with them, hear confessions and give them Holy Mass.” Fr Mariusz celebrates Mass in Polish in Belfast twice a month and once a month in Armagh, Aughnacloy, Ballymena, Derry, Dungannon, Newry, Portadown and Strabane. “A lot of people found jobs and a lot of possibilities in Northern Ireland; Polish people like it here very much. They come here to ‘normalise’ their lives – to earn money or to pay debts – some of them have come from quite difficult situations. Of course, ideally, they would like to remain in Poland.” Many come through employment agencies in Poland, either in groups or on their own. “It is quite easy for younger people to adjust to a foreign country very quickly, particularly because many speak English well. In most towns in Poland people can learn English and most will try to.” Here many centres for adult education, as well as some parishes, provide English classes for speakers of other languages. For those who have left families behind it can be a difficult experience, “If the father of the family finds work here, after a few months he will try and bring his family to Ireland. The children can go to school here, even if they lack the language.” Most of the Polish migrants have positive experiences here. “They find a welcome, help and generally they feel very well here. I have met some who have had difficulties, but normally their experience is good and are very hopeful about the future.” What about racism and xenophobia, has he met many people who have suffered racial abuse? “There have been some racist incidents, in which people were threatened or property was damaged, though this is not common and it is hard to say whether an incident is racist or not. For Irish people immigration is a new experience. In just a few years so many immigrants have come from other countries and, mostly, Irish people understand because they were immigrants too, just 20 or 30 years ago. But I can imagine that it might be difficult. On the other hand, there is growth in industry and commerce. The immigrants are necessary; there is a benefit to the economy here as well. Immigration is connected to many problems, but there are benefits too.” The Polish chaplaincy in Ireland was established in 2005. “Many bishops noticed the Polish people and wanted to do something for them. Most Polish are Catholics. It has been quite easy; the Irish church has been very welcoming.” “Some who are more integrated and have been here longer are happy to come to Mass in English. But for those who are recently arrived it is very important that they can attend Mass in Polish. It is difficult for them, they are far from home and their families, in a new place and they can find community and find support. It is important for them to integrate with the wider community, but, as a first step, it is good for them to make contact with the Polish community. It is quite hard to integrate directly.” “They are in a new situation and in terms of their faith it can go either way – like in any difficult situation – you can either learn to depend on your faith or lose it.” “The Irish parishes give a lot of support. They organise meetings for them and this is the first step in the process of integration. But also, for example, in Ballymena they have arranged meetings with the police.” For Catholics the church is a natural meeting point. “Having an opportunity to meet after Mass is the best way to get Polish people together. After several meetings they establish a kind of community and somebody takes responsibility for organising things for that group of people, that’s my experience, it’s very important. But also, gathering to pray can be transforming for them. Prayer and being in touch with the Bible, with how to live according to faith is very transforming. If people are only focused on their job or how to get money it becomes very damaging for their lives, for their families and so on. People who attend Mass, pray sincerely, try to live according to the gospel and are seeking to discover God in their lives can find peace in their lives and they find reliance on God.” “In the context of Northern Ireland ‘being a Catholic’ has a different meaning from what it means to be a Catholic in Poland. Here you belong to the ‘Catholic community’, it is about social identity a lot of the time. For us, belonging to the Catholic Church is about how we understand the place of faith in our lives, it is not the opposite of being a Protestant – it has a different meaning. Polish people notice the problems here but they don’t understand them. I think in general they have very little awareness about the Troubles because it has been peaceful here for some time now. In Poland we have had communism and there are a lot of divisions politically, but for people coming here it is difficult for them to understand what the history is about. I am trying to learn about Irish history and to understand the problem.” Has Fr Mariusz had much cross-community contact in his time here so far? “In Poland I had many connections with Protestants, but because the work here keeps me so busy at the moment I haven’t much time, but I hope to.” “I try to encourage Polish people to engage in cultural activities here. There was a Polish Day in Botanic in the summer of 2006, which introduced Irish people to Polish culture. Throughout Northern Ireland there have been activities for the Irish community and Polish community to get to know one another and be involved.” “I think it is very important to get to know one another, to exist in community. Because of faith in Jesus Christ we should be open to other people. We must be integrated with other people because Christianity needs to be open to other people. In the history of the church something very special happened where different cultures met. It is very good for faith and for humanity. We have different cultures but we can find what is also more essential in our lives together.” What are his hopes for the future? “Some day my role here will be finished. I would like to establish a group of people to work with parishes, maybe it would be possible to organise a Polish Catholic Association to help people in need. People who would have time to help others – Polish people and others as well.” FR MARIUSZ DABROWSKI was interviewed by Anna Rankin on 18th October 2006. Further information about the Polish Chaplaincy in Ireland can be found at http://www.polish-chaplaincy.ie |
|||
 |
|
