Poland’s government are set to pass a parliamentary bill laud the late Pope John Paul II as a symbol of Poland’s regained independence.

The bill which is designed to “protect the good name of St. John Paul II”, following allegations that the late pope may have covered up cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church when he served as Archbishop of Kraków in the 1970s. The draft document was submitted to Poland’s lower house, the Sejm, late on Wednesday.

On Monday, Polish private broadcaster TVN24 aired a report detailing accusations levelled against three Polish priests in the 1970s and the response of the then Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, who in 1978 became Pope John Paul II.

Source – Polskie Radio

Poland’s Central Bank chief has renewed his assertion that the Polish economy will avoid recession this year and inflation will drop to single digit figures.

The statement was made on the back of the Polish central bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Council leaving interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, keeping the reference rate at 6.75 percent. The panel earlier delivered a string of rate hikes in an effort to contain surging consumer prices. Inflation in Poland stood at 17.2 percent in year-on-year terms in January, the country’s statistics office said last month. The central bank chief said an economic slowdown was “favourable” when it came to efforts to tame inflation.

Source – Polskie Radio

Poland’s cashless payment system, „Blik”, is set to expand into Romania.

The system has in recent years grown to become a popular alternative to traditional payment methods, such as debit cards and cash. Blik allows for making transactions directly from someone’s bank account using just a mobile app. The system which recorded 13 million active users at the end of 2022 is set to introduce the system in Romania which is the second largest market in the Central and Eastern European region. In the 8 years that the system has operated in Poland the system has processed around 2.8 billion transactions worth PLN 371.4 billion.

Source – Polskie Radio

And finally, a light aircraft has crashed near Gdańsk injuring the pilot and a passenger.

The incident took place at around 14:00 yesterday in a village near Gdańsk. Initial reports indicate that the small plane had technical problems and made an emergency landing in a field. Firefighters pulled the occupants out of the wrecked plane, and both men were later taken to the hospital. Both were conscious and with leg injuries were taken to the hospital by helicopter and ambulance.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be a chilly and cloudy day with chances of snow in a gentle breeze with temperatures of 1 degree centigrade (34 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and -1 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will remain cloudy with some snow showers in places in a fresh breeze and temperatures of 1 degrees during the day and -4 degrees overnight.

Listen to the broadcast:

Martin Caren/ol