The Roman Catholic archbishop of Kraków, Poland, has compared the existence of LGBT+ people to an “aggressive” communist regime.

Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski wrote a pastoral letter dated September 28, which was published in full by right-wing Polish magazine Do Rzeczy.

He said: “Currently we are living at a time in which the next great threat to our freedom has appeared, and it is of a totalitarian nature.

“Its source is — just like the totalitarianisms of the 20th century — a radical rejection of God.

“As a consequence of this rejection, a new vision of man is being proclaimed in which he becomes a caricature of himself.

“As part of gender ideology, there are attempts to obliterate the natural differences between woman and man.

“Moreover, through the aggressive propaganda of LGBT ideology in the name of so-called ‘tolerance’ and ‘progress’, that which is most sacred to us is mocked.”

He said Christians in Poland were “being forced to promote LGBT ideology”, and added: “This clearly reminds us of the totalitarian times of the Polish People’s Republic, when social advancements were guaranteed only to members of the communist party, and believers were treated as second-class citizens.”

Jędraszewski also called World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations for sex education in schools an “anti-morality offensive” which would lead to “great spiritual harm done to children and young people”.

He also previously said in a sermon that LGBT+ people a “rainbow plague”.

He said: “Our land is no longer affected by the red plague, which does not mean that there is no new one that wants to control our souls, hearts and minds… Not red, but rainbow.”

American Catholic news site LifeSiteNews approvingly reported the letter from the archbishop, and also quoted a Catholic American student in Kraków who had a bizarre interpretation of the LGBT+ community.

Filip Mazurczak said: “While Warsaw hipsters may love LGBT as much as they love veganism, bands nobody else has heard of, and not shaving, a large part of Polish society is conservative and Catholic and opposes this.”

Anti-LGBT+ sentiment has been increasing in Poland and LGBT+ rights have become a contentious issue ahead of the October 13 parliamentary election.

On September 29, violence erupted during a Pride parade in the Polish city of Lublin as far-right protesters hurled eggs, bottles and firecrackers in an attempt to stop people marching for LGBT+ rights.