Polish priest faces removal call

[justjohn]

BBC NEWS

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and a major Jewish human rights organisation have called on the Catholic Church to punish a controversial Polish priest.

Father Tadeusz Rydzyk is accused of an anti-Semitic outburst, and of insulting Mr Kaczynski, at a conference in April.

Fr Rydzyk says his remarks have been blown out of proportion.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has launched a petition calling for his dismissal, and Mr Kaczynski says there must be "consequences".

Fr Rydzyk controls the influential Radio Maryja radio station, which correspondents say helped Mr Kaczynski's Law and Justice party win parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005.

Abortion

In tapes released by the weekly magazine Wprost, a voice alleged to be Fr Rydzyk's is heard accusing Mr Kaczynski of being in the pocket of Poland's Jewish community.

"You know what this is about: Poland giving [the Jews] $65bn.

"They will come to you and say, 'Give me your coat! Take off your trousers! Give me your shoes!'" Fr Rydzyk said, according to Wprost.

The speaker is also heard calling President Kaczynski a liar, and his wife Maria a "witch" because of her support for limited abortion rights, which he compares to euthanasia.

"The first lady with this euthanasia... You witch, I'll let you have it. If you want to kill people, do it to yourself first," he says on the tape.

'Jew-hatred'

Fr Rydzyk has accused Wprost of provocation, but has not denied making the comments.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which campaigns against anti-Semitism and extremism, said Fr Rydzyk was guilty of "leveraging Jew-hatred to promote his extremist agenda".

President Kaczynski said that if the tape was genuine, the insult must have consequences.

His brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said it was a "serious problem" which Fr Rydzyk's superiors in the Church needed to address.

Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6291570.stm

Published: 2007/07/11 11:54:44 GMT

[maikl]

Kaczynski brother will do nothing, becouse they are hoping to get votes of the listeners of Radio Maryja, and if the Fr Rydzyk says "Don't vote on them!" - they won't.
So, the Kaczynski are trying to make the Church take care of this, as it was their responsibility, which it is not. But the president will do nothing himself, he is to big coward.

[Pawian]

maikl said:

Kaczynski brother will do nothing,

They won`t do anything because they can`t. They are not superiors of Father Rydzyk.

Besides, today the news reported that the Prime Minister Kaczyński suggested that Father Rydzyk had already apologised for his rude remarks about the presidential couple.

So, the issue of removal call mentioned in the title of this post is outdated already.

[Jaga]

Father Rydzyk would probably survive this time, but if he would continue of making mistakes, he may not survive after the next few times.

[Jaga]

Father Rydzyk would probably survive this time, but if he would continue of making mistakes, he may not survive after the next few times.

[george]

Food for thought. How many times will he be allowed to apologise??

[maikl]

They won`t do anything because they can`t.They are not superiors of Father Rydzyk.

Heheh, this really made me laugh. President and prime minister of a country won't do something, becouse they can't? They are not superiors of somebody?
Believe me, if they wanted, they would be able to make Rydzyk pay and close the radio. They just try hard not to lose votes of his listeners.

[Pawian]

maikl said:

They won`t do anything because they can`t.They are not superiors of Father Rydzyk.

Heheh, this really made me laugh.

hahahaha because you don`t know all details and intricacies.

President and prime minister of a country won't do something, becouse they can't? They are not superiors of somebody?

Even communist dictators couldn`t dismiss such restive cardinals and priests as Cardinal Wyszyński, later Cardinal Wojtyła, and priest Popiełuszko.

Do you really think that current Prime Minister and President have greater power than communists in the past? hahahahahahahahahahahaha

You are mistaken. The Twins can`t fire Father Rydzyk because:

1. He is a monk and answers only to superior brothers of his Redemptoris order. Kaczyński brothers don`t belong to the order, they are laymen, so they have no power over Rydzyk.

The same with the church hierarchy - they are not direct superiors of Father Rydzyk.

Believe me, if they wanted, they would be able to make Rydzyk pay and close the radio.

Even if they wanted, they wouldn`t be able to do it. Believe me, Mike.
Democracy is often endangared by Twins but it still works quite well and is defended quite well. The Twins just can`t close the radio station because they got a fancy to do it. There are certain democratic regulations which forbid them to do so.

You seem to apply old communist standards to current Polish reality.

They just try hard not to lose votes of his listeners.

That`s for sure.

[maikl]

I see your point. However, still if they wanted, the radio would have been closed by now. For example, for lots of unpaid taxes, transmitting without the right to do so etc. There are many law reasons for it to be closed, I am sure Mr. Ziobro would be able to take care of it.

[Pawian]

maikl said:

I see your point. However, still if they wanted, the radio would have been closed by now.

You are trying hard hahahahaha but I feel obliged to dissipate your delusions again and I am repeating it: in the current Polish democratic system it is almost impossible to close a radio station, probably the only exception would be made for stations propagating fascism which is illegal in the country.

For example, for lots of unpaid taxes,

You are mistaken again. The radio is a church institution, it doesn`t have to pay any taxes. What is more, the state pays the radio station 2.5 million dollars because most public broadcasting media in Poland get such help.

When Rydzyk set it up, he certainly took care of such financial details. It is all written in the deal between Rydzyk and state authorities.

transmitting without the right to do so etc.

You must be joking or you know very little about the matter discussed. Are you sure you know which radio station we are talking about?

It is not some local pirate radio operating at the coast from an obsolete oil rig. It is a public radio station which gets donation and support from state authorities. It was so during socialist party`s rule a few years ago, it is so now.

There are many law reasons for it to be closed, I am sure Mr. Ziobro would be able to take care of it.

Mr Ziobro certanly would like to close another broadcasting institution, RMF, which is obsessively anti-Kaczyński brothers. The journalists can`t live a minute without ridiculing the twins and their party.

However, I have not heard any news about the closing of RMF.