And Now Abideth Faith, Hope and Large

Blessed are the good people of Swiebodzin, for the Stalin-shaped hole in their lives has been filled. A thirty-three-metre statue of Jesus has been erected on a hill opposite the supermarket, so that worshippers of St Tesco may look upon it and contemplate the Saviour's teaching that no light is complete without a bushel to shine it on. The Catholic church was popular in Poland because of its opposition to the greedy, corrupt, authoritarian and petty-minded Communist régime; but now that Jaruzelski and his ilk have faded away or changed their brand names, the Church's famous dedication to parsimony, honesty, freedom and generosity may be starting to look a bit thin. The priest whose brain gave birth to this rather expensive chunk of spiritual kitsch apparently drives around in a Mercedes, which must be nearly as amusing for the locals as being all in it together with the Bullingdon boys is for ourselves.