Zaangażowanie duchowieństwa diecezji sandomierskiej w parlamentarną kampanię wyborczą w 1930 r.
The Involvement of the Clergy of the Diocese of Sandomierz in the Parliamentary Election Campaign of 1930

Summary/Abstract: The state authorities in Kielce Voivodeship gathered information on the activity of the clergy during the campaign preceding the parliamentary elections of November 1930. Priests’ political campaigning was not a widespread phenomenon in the Diocese of Sandomierz, but it was a significant one. It was recorded in 49 parishes, which constituted 15% of all pastoral institutions. Such campaigning was undertaken mainly by parish priests and curates in rural areas – according to the findings, over 20% of them expressed their political sympathies and attempted to influence parishioners. Those priests supported the lists of candidates from the National Party (No. 4) and, to a lesser extent, the Christian Democracy Party (No. 19), where the latter was hardly active in that campaign. Some attacked the so-called “Sanation government” and warned against voting for the left. The highest numbers of instances of political campaigning were noted in the districts of Radom and Opoczno, which was related to the greater piety of the parishioners and greater reverence for the clergy in that part of the diocese. It was also there that the National Party achieved its best election result. Among the various forms of the clergy’s political involvement, the following were noted: participation in or organisation of electoral meetings; as well as statements made from the pulpit or in conversations with parishioners, in which the clergy indicated the lists of candidates on which voters-believers should cast their votes.

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