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CNS Story:
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POLAND-ALCOHOL Aug-28-2006 (330 words) xxxi
Polish officials call for drunken drivers' names to be read at church
By Jonathan Luxmoore
Catholic News Service
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Polish officials have called for the names of convicted drunken drivers to be read from church pulpits to combat rampant alcohol abuse in the country.
"The Justice Ministry has instructed us to publicize cases of drunken driving and publicly censure those involved -- the Catholic Church would be well suited for this," Malgorzata Bednarek, chief prosecutor of the southern city of Bielsko-Biala, told Catholic News Service Aug. 25. "But we'll only make arrangements with local parish priests if church leaders agree. For now, we're studying the legal possibility of making a formal request to diocesan bishops."
A spokeswoman for the Polish bishops' conference told CNS August 25 church leaders would consider a written request to have names read during Masses.
Newspaper reports said the Bielsko-Zywiec Diocese had agreed to read the names at the end of Mass while parish news is read.
However, the proposal was criticized by Father Piotr Brzakalik, the sobriety chaplain for the Katowice Archdiocese. Father Brzakalik recently launched a nationwide poster campaign against drunken driving with support from police and advertising firms nationwide.
"To risk killing someone is a violation of the Fifth Commandment," Father Brzakalik told journalists Aug. 24. "But I'm skeptical about this idea -- the pulpit shouldn't be used for stigmatizing people."
Polish drunken driving offenses have increased by about 46,000 from 2001 to 2005, according to police data, despite tougher penalties like license suspension and car confiscation.
In early August the League of Polish Families Party, part of the ruling coalition in parliament, called for passengers to be made criminally liable for the conduct of drivers.
The Catholic Church has traditionally declared a month of sobriety in August, while parish priests have relayed police warnings during Masses and in some cases accompanied traffic police on patrols.
Up to 20,000 alcoholics took part in a special pilgrimage July 30 to the Marian shrine in Lichen.
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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