As of today, the Wroclaw Central Station lobby has gained a rather surprising element with a not entirely clear function and purpose. And it's about a Christian café, which was established on the initiative of the Aid to the Church in Need Association.
The Aid to the Church in Need Association is an international non-governmental organization associated with the Catholic Church, which was founded in 1947 on the initiative of Werenfried van Straaten. The organization has its branches in 23 countries around the world, and in Poland it is located in Warsaw with branches in Krakow and Poznan. The Christian café project is the first of its kind in Poland. The Dialog Station, as the new place in the lobby of Wroclaw's railway station is called, was designed by Szymon Hanczar and is divided into several zones: a café zone called Coffee for a Missionary, and funds raised from sales are to be donated to charitable and missionary projects; a store zone, where it will be possible to buy Christian souvenirs brought in as part of the S.O.S for the Holy Land, such as olive wood products made by Christians from Bethlehem. On offer are rosaries, crosses, figurines of saints, Bethlehem nativity scenes, Christmas ornaments or a candlestick for the Christmas table; the third zone is a conference area equipped with audiovisual equipment to serve educational tasks and socio-cultural integration for elementary and high school students. The site is also to serve as an educational facility, organizing teaching and training activities for children and young people from Lower Silesian schools. The included lectures and workshops are expected to include about 50 participants at a time.
a need for shelter?
The cafe is intended to be a place of open discussion for people with different views. Although, on the other hand, according to Father Andrzej Pasie, director of the regional office in Wroclaw of the Aid to the Church in Need Association, it is important that it be a place that will meet the needs of persecuted Christians:
The establishment of the center, which will cover the southwestern part of Poland and deal with the monitoring of religious freedom, persecution of Christians and the organization of aid to war-affected countries, will contribute to a significant activation andcultural integration of many social circles in the Lower Silesia area, which want to cooperate with the Pontifical Association to Aid the Church in Need in the work of helping those affected by suffering and disability as a result of warfare, or persecuted because of their faith. Among the addressees, we also plan to activate, on a volunteer basis, a group of local senior citizens to acquaint them with the problems faced by socio-cultural integration of immigrants arriving in Poland and Europe, and to seek ways to create effective integration policies. We believe that the religious revival of various social groups in Lower Silesia will at the same time bring about the activation of charitable activities aimed at those most in need. The path from information through education leads to social integration of residents. The effects of both these charitable activities , as well as volunteering of each age group are not immediately visible, they need time to be graspable in the social practices of the area's residents.
On the one hand, we get a message about openness, while on the other hand we get the everlasting argument about persecution and the need for shelter. Let me remind you - we are in a religiously homogeneous country, where Catholics are doing quite well, and the Catholic Church is still a state-supported opinion-making body for a large part of Poles and Polish women. On the other hand, the immigration issue in question is also a politically difficult topic, which indeed requires openness and integration. Then again, is helping immigrants who are not Catholic also due?
The interior of the Dialogue Station in the lobby of Wrocław's Central Station
© Aid to the Church in Need Association
egalitarianism of public space
Another issue here is the role of the public space, which is the lobby of the main train station in Wroclaw. This space should be designed and usable with every user and every user in mind. A Christian cafe seems to be a place aimed only at a specific group. Of course, it's not that such places can't function if the need arises. But not necessarily in the lobby of the Station, thus creating a sense not of openness and egalitarianism of public space, but rather of ideologization of what, at least in concept, should be neutral and communal. Another problem is who will be able to use the Christian café and who will work there? Will openness also apply to people who do not identify with Catholicism? And finally, what do the authorities of the city of Wroclaw, which was, after all, at one time the European Capital of Culture, have to say about it . Of course, I don't negate the charitable and helpful initiative, but I would, however, bet on multiculturalism and egalitarianism in such a place as the Central Station.
The interior of the Dialogue Station in the lobby of the Central Station in Wroclaw.
© Aid to the Church in Need Association
