But Janusz Palikot is not easily discouraged. In an interview with Wprost he hints that his goal is not to create “another political party” but to “carry out changes”. “Polish society will be incredibly transformed, even if we don’t enter any government or implement anything because our proposals will be voted down. It is going to be a normalisation of otherness on a gigantic scale”, enthuses Palikot who calls for public funding of IVF treatment, a clear separation of the Church from the state, legalisation of gay and lesbian unions, liberalisation of abortion laws as well as marijuana legalisation – a message that met with a surprisingly warm reception from an electorate long considered conservative. “Not only has Palikot tapped into a strong anti-clerical sentiment in Polish society, he has also caught a wind of change blowing from the West”, concludes philosopher and columnist Marcin Król.

According to the Prague daily, the Pope wants the Czechs to pay more attention to tradition. The Sunday Mass, which drew over 120,000 people in Brno, Moravia, focused on the theme of hope. At Monday's service in Stará Boleslav, which was mainly for young people, Benedict XVI recalled the legend of Saint Wenceslas, the Czech prince who became the country's patron saint. In Prague, the daily pursues, Benedict XVI met politicians and academics, who he warned against the temptation, in this age of information and techonology, of opposing reason to faith and the search for truth. In the course of his visit, the "Pope of Truth", as Lidové columnist Zbyněk Petráček has termed him, received several gifts, including a copy of a silver crucifix that dates back to the era of Great Moravia (9th century), when the Christian faith began to spread.