Elżbieta Witek made the statement in a TV address to the nation on Thursday night.
She described St. John Paul II as “a beacon of freedom” for Poles, state news agency PAP reported.
She said his message to the Polish people, “Do not be afraid,” when the country was under communism, "enabled the Holy Spirit to descend" and “renew the face of this land, our land, Poland.”
Witek said "the Holy Spirit removed the shackles of lies, evil and enslavement” and “renewed our spirit and gave us strength to fight.”
She went on to say: “We, the Polish people, are a courageous and wise nation. It’s not a coincidence that our history dates back a thousand years. It’s our faith and values that gave us the strength to endure in our own country, in our own nation, in our own land, despite the obstacles of fate and bad ideas.”
Witek warned that the contemporary world “seeks to undermine our foundations and puts them to the test, inverts notions and creates false gods.”
She declared that “those who think we’ll let ourselves be manipulated, are very much mistaken.”
John Paul II 'unites us and bonds us together’
The Polish top lawmaker stated: “For us Poles, St. John Paul II is what unites us and bonds us together. He is the fundamental link, a beacon of freedom. Whoever seeks to extinguish this flame will be met with a clear and firm ‘no.’”
Witek said that "Polish people whatever their views and beliefs,” have “shared insignia of identity,” namely “our white eagle, the red-and-white flag, the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa and the portrait of John Paul II.”
She added: “During the saddest of times, it is these symbols that kept us alive, that kept us together, that gave us hope of a free, independent Poland.”
‘Attempts to destroy John Paul II won’t succeed’
The Speaker also said: “Today, based on fabricated communist reports, an attempt is being made to take one of these symbols away from us, in the belief that it will divide us. The Polish communist secret service sought to destroy Karol Wojtyła, and the KGB tried to kill him. These attempts didn’t succeed then and they won’t succeed today.”
She added: “One of the foreign TV stations operating in Poland has aired a report reminiscent of the worst years of communist propaganda targeted at the foundations of our cultural heritage.”
Witek continued: “John Paul II is our identity, our foundation and our bond. The communists knew this perfectly well and that’s why they sought to destroy him while he was alive. Today, their heirs are doing it after his death. It’s shameful to side with them.”
She thanked MPs for adopting a special resolution “as a gesture of opposition to these disgraceful attempts to destroy St. John Paul II.”
She concluded: “Let’s not allow ourselves to be divided. Long live Poland and the memory of a great Pole, the hero of our freedom, St. John Paul II.”
Heated debate
On Monday, US-owned news channel TVN24 aired a report detailing accusations of child sex abuse levelled against three Polish priests in the 1960s and 1970s, alleging that the then Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, who in 1978 became Pope John Paul II, knew about the wrongdoing.
The report also included comments from Dutch journalist Ekke Overbeek, the author of a book entitled Maxima Culpa, according to the PAP news agency.
The documentary stirred a heated debate in Poland.
The Polish foreign ministry on Thursday summoned the US ambassador "in response to the activity of one of TV stations, an investor on the Polish market," it said in a statement.
The Polish foreign ministry did not name the station or specify what it believes the broadcaster did wrong, news agencies reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, sejm.gov.pl