A German court decision causes great excitement in Catholic Poland: the Cologne District Court has issued a penalty order against the Polish theology professor and priest Dariusz Oko for sedition. The reason is an article by Okos in the German-language magazine Theological, in which he describes homosexual priests as “plague” and among other things. The article literally states: “Such a homo mafia behaves like any mafia like a ruthless parasite, like a cancer that is even ready to kill its host, to suck the last of its resources and supplies out of it in order to ensure its comfortable existence” so writes Oko about gay priests. The article is entitled “On the Need to Limit Homosexual Cliques in the Church”.
These statements are likely to disturb the public peace and incite hatred against part of the population, the Cologne district court ruled this week and issued a fine of 4800 euros against Dariusz Oko. A penalty order was also issued against editor-in-chief Johannes Stöhr, who lives in Cologne. According to a court spokeswoman, Stöhr and Oko have each lodged an objection. Therefore, there is still no final decision, there is likely to be a main hearing in both cases. A date for this has not yet been set.
In Poland, the German ruling also called politics into action: The national-conservative Vice Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski condemned the penal orders sharply. The court “trampled on academic freedom and showed that it values the torturer more than the victim”. Such “paranoia” should not be allowed in Poland. Eco expressed himself on Polish television: He wrote a scientific article and collected “known facts about homosexuals in cassocks and their habits”.
Oko is no stranger to Poland: the 61-year-old is head of the Chair of Cognitive Philosophy at the Pontifical University “John Paul II.” in Krakow and a frequent guest on Polish talk shows. He is the author of a book called “Lavender Mafia” about alleged gay networks within the Catholic Church. Critics condemned it as openly homophobic. The magazine Theological According to the self-portrayal, “tries to preserve the Catholic identity”, “without false diplomatic considerations, but in a scientifically sound, free from petty polemics and loyal to the church’s teaching office”.
Hate mail against the Munich priest who filed the criminal complaint
Manfred Hauke, editor of the magazine and professor for dogmatics in Lugano, Switzerland, defended the text: Oko had “sometimes used strong expressions,” he told the SZ. “Anyone who takes it out of context could possibly see it as a disparagement of people with homosexual tendencies. That would of course be a misunderstanding.” Anyone who criticizes the Sicilian Mafia is not turning against Sicilians in general. Oko’s criticism does not concern homosexuals in general and homosexual clergy in general, but rather refers to a group that defines Oko with reference to a quote from Pope Francis at the beginning of his essay: “It is better, the priesthood or their consecrated life to give up than to lead a double life. “
On a homepage, supporters are now collecting signatures for a petition to Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Cologne District Court, “we defend Pastor and Prof. Dariusz Oko, let’s say no to the censorship of the word” it says there. The website was brought into being by the controversial, ultra-conservative Polish institute Ordo Iuris, which is closely related to the ruling party PiS.
The homepage is directed in particular against the Munich priest Wolfgang Rothe, who had filed a criminal complaint against Oko and Stöhr in April and who had blessed homosexual couples in the nationwide campaign #liebegewinnt in May. He is now receiving a flood of hate mail from Poland, Rothe told the SZ. “It is a widespread phenomenon that right-wing populists jump on pseudo-church issues in order to get conservative Christians on board. Right-wing populists are not concerned with religious motives, but with attention to their cause.”