The last few days has seen the media
awash with comments regarding the comments of controversial Catholic
priest, Redemptorist and media mogul Tadeusz Rydzyk, usually referred
to by his supporters as Father Director.
While attending a seminar in
Brussels, the controversial priest said that Poland was a
“totalitarian” and “uncivilized” country.
He also stated that
“Poland has not been ruled by Poles since 1939,” adding that he
was not “referring to ethnicity but that they [Polish leaders]
don’t have a Polish heart”
The comments caused an uproar in Poland, a nation sensitive to how it is portrayed in the West.
The comments caused an uproar in Poland, a nation sensitive to how it is portrayed in the West.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Mr Rydzyk had “broken the rule
whereby you don't speak bad of your nation when abroad.”
Foreign
Minister Radosław Sikorski, tweeted in response that the Toruń-based
priest had crossed certain boundaries and that “the Polish state
[would] react.”
All the way to the Vatican
And
indeed it did, with the Foreign Ministry sending a diplomatic note to
the Vatican asking them to take action on Mr Rydzyk.
The Vatican, as
could have been expected, stayed clear of the issue, replying that
the Polish priest spoke for himself and not the Vatican, in effect
communicating that they would do nothing concerning the
matter.
However, in a rare moment of contrition, Mr Rydzyk
stated in a later interview that he hadn't meant to say Poland was a
totalitarian country but that “totalitarian methods” were being
used to discriminate against him and his businesses.
He then
apologized to anyone who might have misunderstood him.
That
might be the end of this particular matter, but it is by no means the
end of one of the most, if not the most, powerful Catholic priest in
Poland.
And it is definitely not the end of Poland's problem with a
particularly scandal-prone cleric.
Rupert Murdoch in a
priest's robes
Mr Rydzyk
directly or indirectly controls a TV station (TV
Trwam), a radio station (Radio
Maryja), a newspaper (Nasz Dziennik) and a university
(The Higher Institution of Social and Media Culture (WSKSiM).
His radio station has over a million loyal listeners and Mr Rydzyk is their undisputed spiritual leader. Politicians court his favor, and it's widely reported that he demands from parties seeking his blessing that they place some of his personal favorites in good positions on their election lists. This ensures that he always has his people in parliament. They serve as his eyes and ears, keeping him informed of the ongoing political undercurrents.
Despite the fact that Mr Rydzyk and his media outlets have been accused of openly antisemitic and nationalistic rhetoric in the past, no scandal seems able to hurt his position or reduce his influence.
His radio station has over a million loyal listeners and Mr Rydzyk is their undisputed spiritual leader. Politicians court his favor, and it's widely reported that he demands from parties seeking his blessing that they place some of his personal favorites in good positions on their election lists. This ensures that he always has his people in parliament. They serve as his eyes and ears, keeping him informed of the ongoing political undercurrents.
Despite the fact that Mr Rydzyk and his media outlets have been accused of openly antisemitic and nationalistic rhetoric in the past, no scandal seems able to hurt his position or reduce his influence.
In 2007, the
Simon Wiesenthal Institute requested Pope Benedict XVI to relieve Mr
Rydzyk of his duties due to his antisemitic comments, while David
Peleg, the Israeli ambassador in Poland at the time, asked the Church
to condemn comments made by the controversial priest, comments which
he described as the “most antisemitic since [the Polish antisemitic
wave] in 1968.”
Their requests fell on deaf ears.
The
untouchable
Mr
Rydzyk has said Poland is run by Jews, singling out businessman
George Soros as being particularly influential.
He said the late
president Lech Kaczyński was a cheat who was under the influence of
the Jewish lobby and he accused Maria Kaczyńska, the late
president's wife, who also died in last year's Smolensk tragedy, of
being a witch.
And still, politicians from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party (co-founded by none other than the same Lech Kaczyński!) flock to his media outlets, cowering before the powerful priest in an effort to attain his support before elections.
So how did a Catholic priest born to humble beginnings become a major player on the Polish political and media scenes? Someone who can get away with the kind of antisemitic comments no other high-profile Pole would be able to get away with.
Not much is known about Mr Rydzyk's past, but it is clear he attended Catholic seminaries in Tuchów and Warsaw before working as a catechist in the cities of Toruń, Szczecinek and Kraków.
And still, politicians from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party (co-founded by none other than the same Lech Kaczyński!) flock to his media outlets, cowering before the powerful priest in an effort to attain his support before elections.
So how did a Catholic priest born to humble beginnings become a major player on the Polish political and media scenes? Someone who can get away with the kind of antisemitic comments no other high-profile Pole would be able to get away with.
Not much is known about Mr Rydzyk's past, but it is clear he attended Catholic seminaries in Tuchów and Warsaw before working as a catechist in the cities of Toruń, Szczecinek and Kraków.
In 1986, he
left then-communist Poland for Italy, later moving to West Germany.
It was there that Mr Rydzyk first got involved with media, working
with a radio station called “Radio
Maria International” in Balderschwang.
A priest with
a knack for capitalism
He returned to post-communist Poland in 1991 and quickly established Radio Maryja. He made himself the one-person management and supervisory board of the station, giving him total and unquestioned control.
He returned to post-communist Poland in 1991 and quickly established Radio Maryja. He made himself the one-person management and supervisory board of the station, giving him total and unquestioned control.
The
station quickly gained a following and Mr Rydzyk later helped to
establish the strongly conservative newspaper Nasz
Dziennik, the TV station TV
Trwam and his institution of higher learning, where media
communication is taught and where he is raising the next generation
of journalists for his media empire.
His strength stems from the one million or so loyal listeners who regularly tune in to Radio Maryja, which is still the most successful of all his media outlets. To the radio's fans, Mr Rydzyk is an absolute moral authority, their spiritual leader and mentor.
His strength stems from the one million or so loyal listeners who regularly tune in to Radio Maryja, which is still the most successful of all his media outlets. To the radio's fans, Mr Rydzyk is an absolute moral authority, their spiritual leader and mentor.
The controversial Redemptorist is a very charismatic
individual with good rhetorical skills, a winning smile and a
harmless manner about him. If you met him for the first time without
ever having heard about him, you would find it very hard to believe
that he was capable of vitriolic, much less openly hateful
statements. His whole manner can easily inspire trust.
Many of his followers are older individuals, people for whom there is no place in the fast-moving, ever-changing world of modern-day consumer capitalism.
Many of his followers are older individuals, people for whom there is no place in the fast-moving, ever-changing world of modern-day consumer capitalism.
They are often pensioners, a group largely ignored by the
mainstream media establishment in Poland as their small monthly
pensions make them unattractive targets for the advertisers who feed
the media beast. These people feel largely marginalized in today's
Poland.
It would all be so better if only …
Mr Rydzyk reaches out to them and in his earnest and convincing manner tells them that Poland has been taken over by Jews, masons and foreign interest groups, that their lives would be better if only “real” Poles (whoever those might be), were to once again be running the country.
It would all be so better if only …
Mr Rydzyk reaches out to them and in his earnest and convincing manner tells them that Poland has been taken over by Jews, masons and foreign interest groups, that their lives would be better if only “real” Poles (whoever those might be), were to once again be running the country.
Real Poles would definitely increase their
pensions and make Poland a more just and moral society. The fact that
those who the Torun-based Redemptorist would label as real Poles are
few and far apart and will thus never be strong enough to come to
power means that he can sell his followers this utopia till thy
kingdom come.
But it would be pure intellectual laziness to simply brush off this successful priest's appeal to the selling of illusions to old, confused and frustrated people. If one takes the time to watch TV Trwam and listen to Radio Maryja, it becomes less difficult to understand the comfort these media give to many, who really do feel marginalized and confused in this era of individualistic consumerism.
Common prayers are organized on air, there are some interesting discussions on religion, the likes of which you are unlikely to hear on secular commercial stations, and there is a very conscious attempt to create a feeling of unity and togetherness among Mr Rydzyk's fans. Phrases like “the Radio Maryja family” are used often and the word “we” is much more common than “I” or “you.”
But it would be pure intellectual laziness to simply brush off this successful priest's appeal to the selling of illusions to old, confused and frustrated people. If one takes the time to watch TV Trwam and listen to Radio Maryja, it becomes less difficult to understand the comfort these media give to many, who really do feel marginalized and confused in this era of individualistic consumerism.
Common prayers are organized on air, there are some interesting discussions on religion, the likes of which you are unlikely to hear on secular commercial stations, and there is a very conscious attempt to create a feeling of unity and togetherness among Mr Rydzyk's fans. Phrases like “the Radio Maryja family” are used often and the word “we” is much more common than “I” or “you.”
Secret
admirers
But the problem is that the Polish church is powerless to do anything about Mr Rydzyk and his media empire. He is simply a bigger spiritual authority to his followers than is any other Bishop or priest in Poland.
But the problem is that the Polish church is powerless to do anything about Mr Rydzyk and his media empire. He is simply a bigger spiritual authority to his followers than is any other Bishop or priest in Poland.
Also, since the death of John Paul
II, he is now probably the most charismatic figure in the Polish
Roman Catholic Church, one of the few people capable of drawing
hundreds of thousands to a religious rally.
The church establishment
is afraid of touching him and are happy that in a time of increasing
secularism, Mr Rydzyk is able to awaken the religious enthusiasm of
so many.
It would thus be mere wishful thinking
to expect that the Polish Church, the Vatican, or any other Catholic
authority, will do anything about him or his media outlets in the
near or even distant future.
It just is not going to happen.
Moreover, the brutal truth of the
matter is that a part (difficult to say how big) of the Polish
Church's establishment agrees with what Mr Rydzyk says.
They also
harbor antisemitic and nationalistic sentiments and admire Mr Rydzyk
for being able to say what they are afraid to say in public.
There should also be no doubt that
there are many more Poles than the number who listen to Radio
Maryja who also harbor similar sentiments, even though they would
never voice them in public.
Now it
would seem that is the
real problem, isn't it?