Warsaw, Poland, Aug 30, 2021 / 07:30 am
A Catholic layman will represent the Church in Poland at the official opening of the synodal process leading to the 2023 synod of bishops meeting in Rome.
Aleksander Bańka, a professor at the University of Silesia in Katowice, southern Poland, was appointed as a delegate of the Church in Poland by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish bishops’ conference.
Bańka will be part of a contingent of 10 people representing Europe, comprising Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE), two bishops, and seven lay people.
The appointment was first mentioned publicly on Aug. 25, when Poland’s bishops announced that “for the first time, a lay person will represent the Church in Poland at the inaugural session” of the synodal process.