There are several Polish towns or villages known for their local tradition of preparing huge Easter palms, for instance, Łyse or Lipnica Murowana. In Lipnica, there are competitions for the largest Easter palm, organized every year. Traditionally, palm construction is guided by several rules: the base cannot exceed the width of an adult man’s connected hands, and it has to be put up using only the strength of one’s own hands. Thus, in Lipnica, 35-metres-tall palms are raised by groups of men through a mechanism installed on a tree growing in the Lipnica market square, or with the help of a hand-held two-pronged pitchfork on a long wooden handle.
In 2007, the town of Łyse was visited by the then President of Poland with his wife; their presence was to honour the celebrations of Palm Sunday and the uncovering of Łyse palms. During his speech at the mass, the President revealed Poland’s position with regards to the most important event going on in Poland at the time: the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, that is, the moment of creating European Union in the form we know today.
He said:
“???????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????????????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????. (…) ???????? ????????????????????????, ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????, ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????, ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????, ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? – ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????. ????????????????, ???????? ????????????????????????, ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???? ???????????????????? ????????????????????????????????, ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????. ???????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????.”
Among the points of contention, President Lech Kaczyński named the Charter of Fundamental Rights. ‘This documents contains, mainly, entirely correct statements. However, there are also points which may later lead to, e.g., rights to marriages that are not a relationship between a woman and a man. I would rather not talk about this at church,’ he said and added, ‘we want to secure this.’ In the end, the President congratulated the Łyse inhabitants on their beautiful palms and wished everyone a happy Easter.
