How Church's Crash in Poland Hurt Law & Justice Party

In Poland’s parliamentary elections this month, Law and Justice, the right-wing populist party that has ruled the country for the last eight years, still got the biggest share of votes nationwide, with 35%, but not enough to keep the party in power, even with the help of its natural partner, the far-right libertarian Confederation party’s 7%. Instead, Law and Justice’s main opposition, the Civic Coalition, led by Donald Tusk, announced its plans to create a coalition government with the New Left and the Third Way parties, which got the support of 54% of voters. The three parties’ coalition will likely push through significant changes in the political landscape, reversing polarizing Law and Justice measures on immigration and reproductive rights. But this turnabout was prefaced, and probably caused, by a watershed shift in the once unassailable position of the Catholic Church in Poland.