The Polish government has asked the Holy See to quiet a Catholic
priest who recently called his native Poland “uncivilized” and close to
“totalitarian” after getting a fine for illegal fund-raising.
The
diplomatic note to the Vatican follows this government’s visible move
away from the Catholic Church ahead of a parliamentary election set for
later this year.
During a trip to the European Parliament in Brussels last week, Tadeusz Rydzyk, a Polish Redemptorist monk, said: “It’s scandalous, we’re feeling excluded, discriminated against, it’s
like totalitarianism. What we’re dealing with in Poland is tragic, mean
— to put it mildly. It’s Poland’s tragedy that since 1939 Poland hasn’t
been ruled by Poles. It’s not about blood or allegiance — they don’t
love the Polish way, they don’t have a Polish heart.”
In reaction, the government over the weekend gave a diplomatic note
to a Vatican official requesting action that would keep Father Rydzyk
from “making statements detrimental to Poland’s good name and the Church
in Poland.”
The priest is at the helm of a Catholic radio station and a related
television channel, and also runs a newspaper — all of which share much
of the conservative political line of the opposition Law and Justice
party.
The priest’s business ventures include a private university and a
search for hot springs that could be used for heating and power
generation. During the government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Rev. Rydzyk’s
foundation secured about $10 million of a European Union subsidy for the
hot springs project.
The subsidy was canceled soon after the current
prime minister, Donald Tusk, came to power.
The state-backed
environmental agency that administers the funds pointed to procedural
errors made by the priest’s foundation.
The priest was recently fined
about $1,000 for failing to observe Poland’s laws on fund-raising when
trying to collect cash from his followers to continue the search for
thermal waters.
Mr. Tusk said Monday that the controversial Redemptorist won’t face
discrimination, but also won’t enjoy any privileges.
The government’s
vocal reaction to Father Rydzyk’s remarks raised some eyebrows in Poland
because the state had complained about its own national to a foreign
authority.
However, the note coincides with Mr. Tusk’s acknowledgement
that a bill introducing same-sex civil unions could be debated soon
after this year’s parliamentary election.
Mr. Tusk’s Civic Platform
party has recently welcomed a popular leftist politician to its ranks.
Mr. Tusk recently said his government won’t “kneel in front of any
priest” after years when he and his Civic Platform party, usually
described as center-right, were careful not to upset relations with the
Catholic hierarchy of Poland.
Whether in the opposition in 2005-2007 or
leading the government since 2007, the party was sending conservative
messages about Poland’s abortion laws or the possibility of state
recognition for same-sex unions.
But opinion polls on such matters published over the years show
Polish society is changing.
The number of voters who haven’t experienced
communism, or weren’t even alive during that era, is growing rapidly.
Church attendance is still high, but is declining—in 2010 41% of the
Church’s members were attended the Sunday mass, down from 47% in 1992.
The society still predominantly dislikes homosexuals, but a majority of
respondents has recently supported a bill that would allow same-sex
couples to enjoy the same inheritance rights as married couples do.
Political battles of yesterday — over how to punish communists or
uncover the murky past of some of the country’s billionaires — seem
ancient to younger members of the society who are more concerned with
their own liberties and careers.