(LifeSiteNews) — The Polish government has called on the Vatican to punish and dismiss two Catholic bishops who spoke out against the country’s immigration policy.

Poland’s ambassador to the Holy See, Adam Kwiatkowski, delivered a diplomatic note to the Vatican’s Secretariat of State complaining about the recent statement by two Polish bishops on immigration and the Polish government.

The document accused the bishops of making speeches that “undermine good Polish-German relations, slander the government, and indicate clear support for nationalist groups,” and expressed “deep outrage” at the statement made by retired bishops Antoni Długosz and Wiesław Mering during an annual pilgrimage to the Jasna Góra monastery, where the famous Black Madonna icon is displayed.

During the pilgrimage, the two bishops sharply criticized the government for its immigration policy and expressed support for the “citizen patrols” that formed in an attempt to prevent illegal aliens from entering the country.

“German police are tossing illegal immigrants across the border like objects,” Długosz said, adding that “we Poles know what mercy is, and it doesn’t mean we should open our doors to all illegal immigrants.”

“It creates serious problems in the countries [the immigrants] arrive in,” he continued. “For decades, the Islamisation of Europe has been progressing through mass immigration. What we are witnessing now in Poland is only the beginning. It began the same way in the West.”

“Poland is now ruled by political gangsters,” he stated, citing the words of Prime Minister Donald Tusk used to describe the former conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government.

Bishop Mering also criticized the immigration policy of the current Polish government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and furthermore lamented that “schools are being destroyed by barbarism” because the government is “removing patriotic and national content.”

READ: Polish bishop warns of ‘Islamization of Europe’ as he denounces open borders

The note criticized Bishop Długosz’s alleged support for Robert Bąkiewicz, founder of the Border Defence Movement, which organizes “citizens patrols” to protect the nation’s borders.

“Today we want to pray for the defenders of our borders, those in the uniforms of border guards, soldiers, police officers, customs officers, the Territorial Defense Force, but also the volunteers of the Border Defense Movement, those who selflessly organize patrols,” Długosz said during his sermon.

“This is the response of Polish parliamentarians and patriots concerned about the situation on the western border, where German police are flinging illegal migrants to our side like objects,” he added.

The note also criticized Bishop Mering’s statements, which were interpreted as anti-German. Mering describes the government as “political gangsters” and said that Poles are governed “by people who describe themselves as Germans.”

Mering was possibly referring to Donald Tusk’s ethnic German heritage. Critics of the prime minister frequently accuse him of not serving Polish but rather German interests.

Polish bishops are generally at odds with the liberal Tusk government, especially due to its commitment to loosen restrictions on abortion, reducing state contribution to charitable religious work, and reducing religion classes from two hours to one hour per week in public schools.

At the end of the letter to the Vatican, the Polish government official demands “appropriate” consequences so that “similar unfortunate, false, and unjustified statements do not appear in public discourse in the future and tarnish the good name of the Catholic Church.”

The Polish government’s diplomatic note claimed that the comments violated the 1993 concordat between the Holy See and Poland and called on the Vatican to discipline the bishops.

The Concordat grants the Holy See exclusive authority to appoint bishops. However, according to the letter, it also includes the obligation to bear the consequences of the actions of those appointed, “including their dismissal if they exceed the bounds of good relations or violate the principles described in the Concordat.”