The head of the Polish Catholic Bishops’ Conference released a statement Thursday urging legislators to resist LGBT ideology, while embracing a politics of non-discrimination.

A recent LGBT “offensive” in Poland, including a wave of “pride marches,” has given rise to polemics in Poland over the LGBT ideology and what should be done about it, said Poznań Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.

Moves by the LGBT lobby also entailed “the introduction to school curricula of a new approach to sexual education, in accordance with this ideology, planned by some local governments after holidays,” the archbishop said.

“People belonging to milieus of the so-called sexual minorities are our brothers and sisters for whom Christ gave his life and whom He wants also to be saved,” he insisted. “Respect for specified individuals cannot, however, lead to the acceptance of an ideology that aims to revolutionize social customs and interpersonal relationships.”

Citing Pope Francis, Archbishop Gądecki said that this revolution of customs and morals has often waved the flag of freedom, “but it has, in reality, brought spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.”

The archbishop urged politicians and legislators to resist the “ideological totalitarianism” that lurks behind proposals to radically undermine Poland’s Christian culture, especially as regards God-given differences between men and women.

“Hence my appeal to local authorities not to make decisions that – under the guise of counteracting discrimination – would conceal the ideology that denies the natural gender difference and complementarity between men and women,” he said.

Getting more specific, he also appealed “to parliamentarians to resist the far-reaching plans of LGBT+ milieus, that aim to change Polish law in order to introduce the so-called ‘homosexual marriage’ and the possibility of adoption children by them.”

Referencing the “wave of criticism” that has inundated those who dare to express “their disapproval of LGBT+ ideology,” the archbishop pointed to an “ideological totalitarianism rooted in certain milieus, consisting in removing people who think differently outside the sphere of freedom.”

“Therefore, I appeal to all people of good will to apply the principle of non-discrimination in public discussion not only to the supporters of the mentioned ideology, but also to allow its opponents on equal rights to debate,” he concluded.

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