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Reportedly, Jesus Christ was declared the king of Poland in November 2016 following a vote by their parliament. I've seen such reports in blogs and other such resources that are usually used as secondary sources, one of which expresses some doubt about the story. Most stories link to Polish-language resources, but I don't speak Polish and can't judge the veracity of the sources anyway. Most include photos, but many hoaxes have included photographic "evidence"; however, a good answer will explain what's going on in the photos if not the ceremony the websites claim is happening.

So is it true? Was Poland declared a monarchy with Jesus Christ as its head?

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    I heard from a polish immigrant to the USA only a month ago that polish politics is in an even weirder spot than the USA. They apparently voted to disband their supreme court equivalent.
    – user11643
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 17:46
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    @fredsbend AFAIK they didn't officially disband their supreme court, they just changed their rules of procedure in a way which makes them de-factor incapable of acting. Yes, it is pretty scary what is happening in Poland right now.
    – Philipp
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 20:27

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TL;DR:

  • It was a bill in parliament in 2006. It didn't have a lot of support (10%) and opposition from Episcopate.

  • In 2016, there was a religious ceremony (in which MPs and President were participating), but there's a big uncertainty over exactly what the legality of it is (as opposed to merely spirituality). There was no parlamentary vote I could find proof of (although one article claimed a vote in April 2016)

    After the ceremony, Bishop Andrzej Czaja said: "It is not a declaration of Christ the King, because he is king. It is not a declaration of Christ the King of Poland. His kingdom is not of this earth, and his dominion is over the whole universe," adding that we should recognise Christ's reign over the whole world and submit to his law and his will (source, translated from official Polish source).

Here are details of 2006 vote:

From December 22, 2006 post: (http://www.bosnewslife.com/2646-2646-polands-parliament-to-vote-on-naming-jesus-ki):

Conservative parliamentarians from the ruling Law and Justice party and League of Polish Families as well as the opposition Peasants Party drawn up this week's resolution naming Jesus Christ the King of their mainly Catholic nation.

**So far only 46 members in the 460-seat parliament back the proposal, well short of the 231 votes to pass, said Szymon Ruman, spokesperson for parliamentary speaker Marek Jurek. ...

The article adds credibility by citing specific Polish clergy leaders criticizing the move:

Some Polish church leaders criticized the move as unnecessary. "Christ doesn't need a parliamentary resolution to be the king of our hearts," said Monsignor Tadeusz Pieronek, a member of Poland's episcopate and rector at Krakow's Papal Academy of Theology.

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  • Thanks! Good research. Before I accept, I'd like to know more definitively about the (lack of) April 2016 vote.
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 5:33
  • @Mr.Bultitude - i haven't been able to find a single reputable mention of such vote so far while Googling. Not proof, by any means.
    – user5341
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 5:34
  • Hopefully there's a particular website or webpage that has records of all Polish parliamentary votes. If we can find that and a decent translation it should be fairly easy to check for such a vote.
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 5:37
  • @Mr.Bultitude - I tried that, but all I got was the abortion vote news from December so far :(
    – user5341
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 5:41
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    Hopefully this gets some bites.
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 17:40
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This is the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Poland - monarchies do not generally describe themselves as republics.

In addition, the CIA world fact book describes Poland as a "parliamentary republic" subject to the 1997 constitution and with the head of state "President Andrzej DUDA (since 6 August 2015)" - not Jesus Christ.

Further, the articles you linked, if they are true, appear to be refereing to a religious ceremony at which the President was present - not a political or legal change.

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    The first two paragraphs really don't address the claim. It's clear that Jesus himself has not been assigned any administrative role in government, so it's a ceremonial designation that would (probably) not be reflected in sources like that. The third paragraph does a better job at directly addressing the question, but 1) it's a mere assertion you have not backed up, and 2) it contradicts the claim in my second link that the ceremony happened because of a parliamentary vote.
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Commented Dec 16, 2016 at 1:27

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