ABSTRACT
The two faces of Polish Catholicism are most dramatically highlighted in the very different styles of two of its most famous churchmen, Primate Josef Glemp and moral theologian and former Solidarity chaplain Father Josef Tischner. Josef Glemp succeeded Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski as Primate in the summer before martial law. At fifty-two he was a young man for the job but it was rumoured that his appointment had been the deathbed wish of the internationally known and respected Primate.' Glemp's elevation could not have come at a more difficult or tense time. Within a short few months of his appointment, he faced the dilemma of eunciating the Church's response to the imposition of martial law. There are many Polish Catholics who will not forgive Glemp for the sermon he delivered on Sunday, 13 December. During that sermon, which was broadcast on radio and television, Glemp told his flock that the government's action was 'the choice of a lesser rather than a greater evil. Assuming the correctness of such reasoning the man in the street will submit himself to the new situation . . . Do not start a fight of Pole against Pole."
