Zasada poszanowania niezależności i autonomii państwa i Kościoła katolickiego oraz współdziałania dla dobra człowieka i dobra wspólnego.
The Principle of Respect for Independence and Autonomy of the State and the Catholic Church and of Cooperation for Both the Individual and Common Good.

The Genesis and Significance of Article 1 of the Concordat of 1993–1998 Between the Holy See and Poland

Summary/Abstract: The considerations concern the genesis and interpretation of the fundamental principle of the relationship between the State and the Catholic Church, proclaimed in Article 1 of the Concordat between the Holy See and the Republic of Poland in 1993–1998 and confirmed in Article 25 (3) of the Polish Constitution of 1997. The first part of the study presents the genesis of the principle of respect for independence and autonomy of the State and the Catholic Church, each in its own sphere, and their cooperation for the common good. It is claimed that Christianity contributed to the culture of whole humanity an original paradigm of religious-political dualism – at odds with the religious-political monism prevailing in the ancient world – and presented the formation of the meaning of this principle in the Constantinian era (from Constantine the Great to the Second Vatican Council). The second part includes: an interpretation of the basic principle of the relation between the Polish State and the Catholic Church in Poland proclaimed in Article 1 of the Concordat, its elaboration in the subsequent articles of the Concordat in the form of mutual obligations and rights of the State and the Catholic Church, and its reception in Article 25 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1998 with respect to all Churches and other religious associations whose legal situation has been regulated. In the concluding section, the author states that on the basis of the cited regulations Poland is a secular state, based on the principle of friendly and coordinated separation.

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