The wooden cross has become a flashpoint between
conservative Roman Catholic supporters of former President Lech Kaczynski, who
was killed along with 95 others in a plane crash in Russia in April, and Poles
supporting the separation of church and state.
The dispute also has highlighted a rivalry between the
pro-Catholic Law and Justice party that supported Kaczynski - which is led by
his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski - and the governing Civic Platform party of
the newly elected president, Bronislaw Komorowski.
Poland, the birthplace of the late pope John Paul II, is
an overwhelmingly conservative Roman Catholic nation, where religion still
yields great power over the society and politics.
Scouting groups put up the cross to Kaczynski and the
other plane crash victims several days after the April 10 crash, and it has
become a major site of mourning over the national tragedy.
Komorowski, who was sworn in last week, wants the cross
removed. He is supported by secular Poles who say that the cross should be
moved to a church.
But Komorowski has faced resistance from the
self-described "defenders of the cross" who are protecting it around
the clock to prevent its removal.
The presidential palace unveiled a plaque bearing a small
engraved cross which commemorates the tragedy on the building's facade in hopes
it will calm the dispute.
Komorowski himself did not attend, but he was represented
at the unveiling ceremony by the head of the presidential chancellery, Jacek
Michalowski.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he hoped the plaque would
be accepted as a gesture of "good will."
Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz and other bishops
appealed Thursday to a group that has blocked the removal of the cross to allow
it to be moved to a nearby church. He also called on Poles not to make the
religious symbol the object of political disputes.
Those defending the cross, however, said they were
unimpressed by the plaque and would continue to keep vigil at the cross until a
larger memorial to Kaczynski is built.
