”The support of the Polish Catholic Bishops’ Conference (KEP) for the campaign to overturn the ban on religious slaughter in Poland was highly significant and warmly welcome,” said Ronald S. Lauder President of World Jewish Congress on Monday.
In a declaration last week, the Presidium of the Conference of the Polish Episcopate pointed out “that throughout our long history Polish legislation never questioned the right to religious freedom". It aslo said that it shared “the view that Jewish religious communities and believers of Islam are entitled to preserve and implement their fundamental rights to freedom of religion and worship. It is their right to preserve their customs, including the ritual slaughter of animals.”
“We appreciate this statement, and we will hope that it will lead Polish legislators to revert the wrong decision they took in July,” Lauder declared, in a reference to the vote by the Sjem, the Polish parliament, that rejected a government bill that would have re-legalize kosher slaughter.
In their statement, the Polish bishops criticized a “lack of consistency of legislators with respect to two conflicting laws, the law on the protection of animals on the one hand and the law governing the relationship between the Polish state and Jewish communities on the other hand".
At a meeting with Pope Francis in Rome earlier this month, the WJC leaders had raised the religious slaughter ban in Poland and asked the Catholic leader to speak out against it. The pope expressed concern about the ban and promised the Vatican would look into the matter.