Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow has called for close episcopal supervision over Radio Maryja, saying that the controversial broadcaster threatens the unity of Polish Catholicism.Cardinal Dziwisz, the longtime secretary to Pope John Paul II, made his suggestion in an address delivered on August 25 at a meeting of the Polish hierarchy, and published this week by the Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny.
The cardinal said that Radio Maryja is part of a worrisome trend in which the work of the Catholic Church is "gradually slipping out of the bishops' control."
Cardinal Dziwisz urged the replacement of Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the Redemptorist priest who founded Radio Maryja, with a new director whose guidance of the station would be more in line with the wishes of the Polish hierarchy.
Father Rydzyk has been under heavy criticism for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks.
The newspaper Zycie Warszawy reports that at the August 25 meeting of the Polish hierarchy, held at Czestochowa, Cardinal Dziwisz's suggestions drew support from the Polish primate, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, as well as Archbishops Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw, Tadeusz Goclowski of Danzig, Jozef Zycinski of Lublin, Damian Zimon of Katowice, Edward Ozorowski of Bialystok, and Henryk Muszynski of Gniezno.
However, the hierarchy was not unanimous, the newspaper said: Archbishop Leszek Slawoj Glodz of Warsaw-Prague spoke out in favor of the current management of Radio Maryja, as did Bishops Antoni Dydycz of Drohiczyn, Stanislaw Napierala of Kalisz, and Wieslaw Mering of Wlocawek.
At the conclusion of their discussion, the Polish bishops decided against taking any public action on the issue. Father Joszef Kloch, the bishops' spokesman, observed that any disciplinary action against Father Rydzyk should be taken by his superiors in the Redemptorist order rather than by the bishops.
The Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported, however, that the bishops would ask Redemptorist leaders to take some action. (The Polish bishops' conference did not confirm that report.)
The appearance of Cardinal Dziwisz's remarks at the bishops' meeting drew a protest from Father Robert Necek, the spokesman for the Krakow archdiocese, who noted that the cardinal had not given permission for their publication.
But Father Adam Boniecki, the editor of Tygodnik Powszechny, defended his decision to print the speech, saying that it was important to demonstrate that-- contrary to some Polish media reports-- the bishops are concerned about the editorial direction of Radio Maryja.
In related news, Archbishop Henryk Muszynki of Gniezno told Poland’s Catholic Information Agency that he does not desire the liquidation of Radio Maryja, but does hope to transform the broadcast outlet into a medium that will reliably promote the vision of Catholicism advanced by the country's bishops.
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