Morawiecki Reaches Deal with Church for Friday Barbecue Dispensation

Mateusz Morawiecki’s association hosts a major political event in Warsaw on Friday featuring over 20 debates, while securing a special church dispensation for meat consumption.

The “Development + You” Event in Warsaw

On Friday, July 31, Warsaw will host the “Development + You” event, which is the long-announced meeting of Mateuszu Morawiecki’s association with its supporters. Organizers promote it as a “day of inspiring conversations, valuable meetings and concrete ideas for development” and “a space for everyone who wants to talk about the future of Poland, exchange experiences and jointly create solutions for a modern state.” The event will last until midnight.

As the association announces, participants can expect over 20 debates and panels with over 50 speakers and special guests, including Garry Kasparov (Russian opposition politician, one of the greatest chess players in history), Patrick Ney (British filmmaker with a Polish passport, promoter of Polish culture and history), Jan Rokita (former politician of the Civic Platform, publicist), and Paulina Matysiak (former MP of the Left Together party). Apart from panel discussions, the agenda also includes other attractions such as live cooking with Grzegorz Puda.

Church Grants Dispensation for Morawiecki’s Event

One of the attractions during Friday’s event is planned to be a barbecue, and Friday is a day when many devout Catholics give up eating meat. However, organizers announced that they had reached an agreement with the Church on this matter.

“We have important information for believers: for the duration of tomorrow’s event, a dispensation was granted from the obligation to maintain abstinence from eating meat dishes. It can be used after meeting ordinary conditions, such as reciting a short prayer for the intention of the Holy Father,” the Rozwój Plus Association informed.

“We know that tomorrow people of various beliefs and sensitivities will meet, which is why we care that everyone feels comfortable,” it added.

Event in the Shadow of the Split within PiS

The event takes place in the shadow of political turmoil surrounding the Rozwój Plus association. A week ago, the deadline expired for the PiS leadership to demand that their parliamentarians submit declarations—under penalty of exclusion from the party—stipulating non-membership in associations conducting activities “of a political nature.” Last Friday, July 24, PiS President Jarosław Kaczyński stated that a group of the party’s politicians had resigned from membership, knowing what failure to sign entailed. Members of the association emphasized at the time that they had not left PiS, and the statement did not apply to party membership. Morawiecki and his supporters claimed that “intriguers” wanted to “push” them out of the grouping.

On Tuesday, July 28, the PiS Political Committee did not announce the exclusion of activists who failed to submit proper statements, but instead referred the matter to individual review by party discipline spokesman Karol Karski. However, politicians associated with the Rozwój Plus association declared that, in accordance with Kaczyński’s Friday statement, they consider themselves no longer in Law and Justice. The following day, they announced the creation of their own club in parliament, which has already been officially recorded by the Sejm. The club currently has 40 deputies and 1 senator. In addition, the association is also supported by three MEPs who previously belonged to PiS.