The Polish Government has finally granted full rights to the country's first Anglican chaplaincy since World War II.
David Williams, the first resident Anglican priest to minister in Poland in 50 years, said that official registration would enable the chaplaincy to "operate freely" in conformity with Polish law. "We are and will remain only a tiny community here, and we have no intention of taking members from other Churches", the British priest said.
"However, recognition as a legitimate Christian body will give a sense of rightness to our activities."
The chaplaincy, inaugurated in October 1995 by the Anglican Bishop of Europe, John Hind, has about 60 members, and is one of 16 Anglican congregations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Together these congregations form an archdeaconry of the Aegean and Danube. (The Anglican request for legal status was filed in late 1995. In March this year David Williams complained about the delay in approval, accusing the Polish government of arbitrarily refusing to grant the Anglican Church legal status.)
The law on freedom of conscience from 1989 allowed "churches and other religious unions" to be set up with 15 Polish signatures. A new law raising the registration requirement to 100 signatures was tabled in the Polish parliament in July this year.
Besides the Roman Catholic Church, to which more than 90 per cent of the country's 38.6 million citizens are believed to claim membership, about 130 religious groups possess full rights in Poland, including 70 Christian Churches, and 20 Buddhist and Hindu sects.
The chaplaincy's registration coincides with the announcement of an agreement by state-run television to allow member Churches of the Polish Ecumenical Council (PRE) their first regular airtime.
David Williams said he already enjoyed "very amicable relations" with the Roman Catholic Church, which had lent the chaplaincy a chapel in Warsaw for Sunday services.