Polish activists cleared of religious offence

Three activists who were accused of desecration and offending religious feelings after they added rainbows to posters depicting the most-revered icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, known as Our Lady Queen of Poland, were acquitted by a Polish court on Tuesday.

The posters were distributed in the central Polish city of Plock in January 2019, after an installation at the city's St Dominic's Church, associated LGBT people with crime and sin.

Campaigners said they had put up the posters to protest what they considered the hostility of the Catholic Church in Poland toward LGBT people.

The 'Life and Family Foundation' brought the case to court.

The three defendants, Elzbieta Podlesna, Anna Prus and Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar, faced up to two years of prison if found guilty.

The court said it did not see evidence of a crime and found that the activists were not motivated by a desire to offend anyone's religious feelings, but rather to defend those facing discrimination, Polish media report. Elzbieta Podlesna, who had been arrested and held in custody for several hours in 2019 was awarded damages.

'Life and Family Foundation' founder Kaja Godek said they were planning to appeal. She said: "Defending the honour of the Mother of God is the responsibility of each of us, and the guilt of the accused is indisputable." She called for the Polish government to "protect Catholics from all violence."

Global Network of Rainbow Catholics' Co Chairs Chris Vella and Ruby Almeida commented: "GNRC welcomes this positive and just decision by the Polish Court in Plock to acquit the three women activists. For too long the Polish LGBT+ community have been victimised and brutalised with vitriol by its Polish Bishops and their current right wing government.

"The use of a rainbow as a halo on the icon of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus should be seen as a source of inspiration and inclusion, not as an insult or intolerance against religion. Life and Family Foundation need to revisit the teachings of Christ to understand that love and compassion are not just for those who they wish to accept but for all of God's children."