Friend of JPII: 'Our Hope Is Not in the Synod, But in God'

Dr. Wanda Poltawska
Dr. Wanda Poltawska (photo: http://www.rodziny.freta.dominikanie.pl)

Dr. Wanda Poltawska, 93, is one of the last great witnesses of the 20th century.

The Polish psychiatrist was a close friend of Pope St. John Paul II, a marriage and family guidance counselor, and has long served as a consultor to three Vatican discasteries. She is also a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp and Communist-ruled Poland.

In an interview yesterday with EWTN/CNA Germany, Dr. Poltawska discussed the Synod on the Family, and stressed that John Paul II's apostolic exhortation on the family, Familiaris consortio, continues to be relevant to today. 

Here below are some translated highlights from the interview:

On the synod

The words of Christ are written in the Gospel and cannot be changed. My experience of the previous synod was that it's not important what views are aired, but what the final document says. Irrespective of various shocking statements that could heard during the discussions, the beautiful document Familiaris consortio is valid today. When I left Rome, John Paul II told me: "Don't forget that God knows everything, and that He is the true steward of the world."

On "instrinsically evil acts" in John Paul II's encyclical Veritatis splendor

Not only the encyclical Veritatis splendor speaks of intrinsically evil acts, the whole Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches what evil is. In marriage, the clearest "evil in itself" is everything that acts against life: abortion, euthanasia, artificial insemination, "In vitro", the "morning after pill".

On homosexuality & gay "marriage":

That is the problem of a lack of common sense. One need not be a sage to see the difference between the sexes. Genesis says clearly: "male and female he created them". Of course it is true that all sinful people break God's commandments, including the sixth commandment. In accordance with its very essence, marriage can not be unisexual, because it should serve life, the family. The union of "two in one body" can not be realized between two persons of one sex.

On aspersions of a "gay lobby" in the Church:

There are no "homosexual clergy", there is only a pathology of behavior in some men and women. There are people who sin against the sixth commandment. From this standpoint, every life story can be seen as a history of sin, because only the Holy Mother was sinless. I have been working as a psychiatrist with this pathology for 60 years, and I found it to be more frequent among, for example, soldiers and medical doctors than among the clergy. This is a tendency that is more frequent in men than women ─ at least in my practice.

On Gender as a totalitarian ideology – speaking as a survivor of Nazi death camps and Communism: 

In Gender Ideology I see above all a lack of common sense and a disregard of biology. Any sensible person knows very well that he is a man or woman. Denying this can not change it. One can, of course, mutilate oneself and cut off the genitals, but that does not really change the sex of the person, since that is genetically determined and so every cell in our body is determined as male or female.

On changing language, calling same-sex unions “marriage”

No new language can change an ancient truth and ─ whether you like it or not, you get your gender as your way of existence.

On the desire for marriage

It's not a matter of "looking for a partner", but rather seeking the will of God…Marriage should serve life.

On the "secret" to a successful marriage: 

Marriage is only successful when the couple strive to be holy all their life.

On her hopes for the synod

Our hope is not in the synod, but in God. It's all about one thing: the realism of "beautiful love" ─ and that can be realized only with the help of the gifts that come from the Holy Spirit.