The last few days has seen the mediaawash with comments regarding the comments of controversial Catholicpriest, Redemptorist and media mogul Tadeusz Rydzyk, usually referredto by his supporters as Father Director.
While attending a seminar inBrussels, 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 hewas not “referring to ethnicity but that they [Polish leaders]don’t have a Polish heart”
The comments caused an uproarin Poland, a nation sensitive to how it is portrayed in the West.
The comments caused an uproarin Poland, a nation sensitive to how it is portrayed in the West.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Mr Rydzyk had “broken the rulewhereby you don't speak bad of your nation when abroad.”
ForeignMinister Radosław Sikorski, tweeted in response that the Toruń-basedpriest had crossed certain boundaries and that “the Polish state[would] react.”
All the way to the Vatican
Andindeed it did, with the Foreign Ministry sending a diplomatic note tothe Vatican asking them to take action on Mr Rydzyk.
The Vatican, ascould have been expected, stayed clear of the issue, replying thatthe Polish priest spoke for himself and not the Vatican, in effectcommunicating that they would do nothing concerning thematter.
However, in a rare moment of contrition, Mr Rydzykstated in a later interview that he hadn't meant to say Poland was atotalitarian country but that “totalitarian methods” were beingused to discriminate against him and his businesses.
He thenapologized to anyone who might have misunderstood him.
Thatmight be the end of this particular matter, but it is by no means theend of one of the most, if not the most, powerful Catholic priest inPoland.
And it is definitely not the end of Poland's problem with aparticularly scandal-prone cleric.
Rupert Murdoch in apriest's robes
Mr Rydzykdirectly or indirectly controls a TV station (TVTrwam), a radio station (RadioMaryja), a newspaper (Nasz Dziennik) and a university(The Higher Institution of Social and Media Culture (WSKSiM).
Hisradio station has over a million loyal listeners and Mr Rydzyk istheir undisputed spiritual leader. Politicians court his favor, andit's widely reported that he demands from parties seeking hisblessing that they place some of his personal favorites in goodpositions on their election lists. This ensures that he always hashis people in parliament. They serve as his eyes and ears, keepinghim informed of the ongoing political undercurrents.
Despitethe fact that Mr Rydzyk and his media outlets have been accused ofopenly antisemitic and nationalistic rhetoric in the past, no scandalseems able to hurt his position or reduce his influence.
Hisradio station has over a million loyal listeners and Mr Rydzyk istheir undisputed spiritual leader. Politicians court his favor, andit's widely reported that he demands from parties seeking hisblessing that they place some of his personal favorites in goodpositions on their election lists. This ensures that he always hashis people in parliament. They serve as his eyes and ears, keepinghim informed of the ongoing political undercurrents.
Despitethe fact that Mr Rydzyk and his media outlets have been accused ofopenly antisemitic and nationalistic rhetoric in the past, no scandalseems able to hurt his position or reduce his influence.
In 2007, theSimon Wiesenthal Institute requested Pope Benedict XVI to relieve MrRydzyk of his duties due to his antisemitic comments, while DavidPeleg, the Israeli ambassador in Poland at the time, asked the Churchto condemn comments made by the controversial priest, comments whichhe described as the “most antisemitic since [the Polish antisemiticwave] in 1968.”
Their requests fell on deaf ears.
Theuntouchable
MrRydzyk has said Poland is run by Jews, singling out businessmanGeorge Soros as being particularly influential.
He said the latepresident Lech Kaczyński was a cheat who was under the influence ofthe Jewish lobby and he accused Maria Kaczyńska, the latepresident's wife, who also died in last year's Smolensk tragedy, ofbeing a witch.
And still, politicians from the conservativeLaw and Justice (PiS) party (co-founded by none other than the sameLech Kaczyński!) flock to his media outlets, cowering before thepowerful priest in an effort to attain his support before elections.
So how did a Catholic priest born to humble beginnings becomea major player on the Polish political and media scenes? Someone whocan get away with the kind of antisemitic comments no otherhigh-profile Pole would be able to get away with.
Not much isknown about Mr Rydzyk's past, but it is clear he attended Catholicseminaries in Tuchów and Warsaw before working as a catechistin the cities of Toruń, Szczecinek and Kraków.
And still, politicians from the conservativeLaw and Justice (PiS) party (co-founded by none other than the sameLech Kaczyński!) flock to his media outlets, cowering before thepowerful priest in an effort to attain his support before elections.
So how did a Catholic priest born to humble beginnings becomea major player on the Polish political and media scenes? Someone whocan get away with the kind of antisemitic comments no otherhigh-profile Pole would be able to get away with.
Not much isknown about Mr Rydzyk's past, but it is clear he attended Catholicseminaries in Tuchów and Warsaw before working as a catechistin the cities of Toruń, Szczecinek and Kraków.
In 1986, heleft then-communist Poland for Italy, later moving to West Germany.
It was there that Mr Rydzyk first got involved with media, workingwith a radio station called “RadioMaria International” in Balderschwang.
A priest witha knack for capitalism
He returned to post-communistPoland in 1991 and quickly established RadioMaryja. He made himself the one-person management and supervisoryboard of the station, giving him total and unquestioned control.
He returned to post-communistPoland in 1991 and quickly established RadioMaryja. He made himself the one-person management and supervisoryboard of the station, giving him total and unquestioned control.
Thestation quickly gained a following and Mr Rydzyk later helped toestablish the strongly conservative newspaper NaszDziennik, the TV station TVTrwam and his institution of higher learning, where mediacommunication is taught and where he is raising the next generationof journalists for his media empire.
His strength stems fromthe one million or so loyal listeners who regularly tune in to RadioMaryja, which is stillthe most successful of all his media outlets. To the radio's fans, MrRydzyk is an absolute moral authority, their spiritual leader andmentor.
His strength stems fromthe one million or so loyal listeners who regularly tune in to RadioMaryja, which is stillthe most successful of all his media outlets. To the radio's fans, MrRydzyk is an absolute moral authority, their spiritual leader andmentor.
The controversial Redemptorist is a very charismaticindividual with good rhetorical skills, a winning smile and aharmless manner about him. If you met him for the first time withoutever having heard about him, you would find it very hard to believethat he was capable of vitriolic, much less openly hatefulstatements. His whole manner can easily inspire trust.
Many ofhis followers are older individuals, people for whom there is noplace in the fast-moving, ever-changing world of modern-day consumercapitalism.
Many ofhis followers are older individuals, people for whom there is noplace in the fast-moving, ever-changing world of modern-day consumercapitalism.
They are often pensioners, a group largely ignored by themainstream media establishment in Poland as their small monthlypensions make them unattractive targets for the advertisers who feedthe media beast. These people feel largely marginalized in today'sPoland.
It would all be so better if only …
MrRydzyk reaches out to them and in his earnest and convincing mannertells them that Poland has been taken over by Jews, masons andforeign interest groups, that their lives would be better if only“real” Poles (whoever those might be), were to once again berunning the country.
It would all be so better if only …
MrRydzyk reaches out to them and in his earnest and convincing mannertells them that Poland has been taken over by Jews, masons andforeign interest groups, that their lives would be better if only“real” Poles (whoever those might be), were to once again berunning the country.
Real Poles would definitely increase theirpensions and make Poland a more just and moral society. The fact thatthose who the Torun-based Redemptorist would label as real Poles arefew and far apart and will thus never be strong enough to come topower means that he can sell his followers this utopia till thykingdom come.
But it would be pure intellectual laziness tosimply brush off this successful priest's appeal to the selling ofillusions to old, confused and frustrated people. If one takes thetime to watch TV Trwam andlisten to Radio Maryja, itbecomes less difficult to understand the comfort these media give tomany, who really do feel marginalized and confused in this era ofindividualistic consumerism.
Common prayers are organized onair, there are some interesting discussions on religion, the likes ofwhich you are unlikely to hear on secular commercial stations, andthere is a very conscious attempt to create a feeling of unity andtogetherness among Mr Rydzyk's fans. Phrases like “the RadioMaryja family” are used often and the word “we” is muchmore common than “I” or “you.”
But it would be pure intellectual laziness tosimply brush off this successful priest's appeal to the selling ofillusions to old, confused and frustrated people. If one takes thetime to watch TV Trwam andlisten to Radio Maryja, itbecomes less difficult to understand the comfort these media give tomany, who really do feel marginalized and confused in this era ofindividualistic consumerism.
Common prayers are organized onair, there are some interesting discussions on religion, the likes ofwhich you are unlikely to hear on secular commercial stations, andthere is a very conscious attempt to create a feeling of unity andtogetherness among Mr Rydzyk's fans. Phrases like “the RadioMaryja family” are used often and the word “we” is muchmore common than “I” or “you.”
Secretadmirers
But the problem is that the Polish church ispowerless to do anything about Mr Rydzyk and his media empire. He issimply a bigger spiritual authority to his followers than is anyother Bishop or priest in Poland.
But the problem is that the Polish church ispowerless to do anything about Mr Rydzyk and his media empire. He issimply a bigger spiritual authority to his followers than is anyother Bishop or priest in Poland.
Also, since the death of John PaulII, he is now probably the most charismatic figure in the PolishRoman Catholic Church, one of the few people capable of drawinghundreds of thousands to a religious rally.
The church establishmentis afraid of touching him and are happy that in a time of increasingsecularism, Mr Rydzyk is able to awaken the religious enthusiasm ofso many.
It would thus be mere wishful thinkingto expect that the Polish Church, the Vatican, or any other Catholicauthority, will do anything about him or his media outlets in thenear or even distant future.
It just is not going to happen.
Moreover, the brutal truth of thematter is that a part (difficult to say how big) of the PolishChurch's establishment agrees with what Mr Rydzyk says.
They alsoharbor antisemitic and nationalistic sentiments and admire Mr Rydzykfor being able to say what they are afraid to say in public.
There should also be no doubt thatthere are many more Poles than the number who listen to RadioMaryja who also harbor similar sentiments, even though they wouldnever voice them in public.
Now itwould seem that is thereal problem, isn't it?
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