Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman wrote Pope Benedict asking him to publicly denounce Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk - a Polish radio priest accused of anti-Semitism. Seven hundred Poles have already denounced him.
By Martin Barillas
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI calling him to publicly denounce anti-Semitic statements espoused by Reverend Tadeusz Rydzyk, a Roman Catholic priest and founder of Radio Maryja, a radio station in Poland that has been accused of anti-Semitic broadcasts.
In a letter to Benedict XVI, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said to the pontiff "you have unfortunately lent him the priceless credibility of your office and integrity in the eyes of the world", in reference to the pope’s meeting and being photographed with Reverend Rydzyk last week at the papal summer retreat.
Foxman noted that, "As the founder and director of Radio Maryja, Father Rydzyk is responsible for the anti-Semitic comments and concepts the station regularly broadcasts to millions of Polish Catholic faithful," and "Father Rydzyk himself has on several occasions made anti-Semitic statements on the air. These are despicable anti-Semitic remarks that must be strongly and publicly condemned by all leaders and people of good will.” "We respectfully request that you publicly condemn the anti-Semitism that is being spouted by Father Rydzyk and other Catholic leaders in Poland." An ADL press release also noted Foxman’s concern over the pope “keeping silent on the issue of anti-Semitism.”
Reverend Rydzyk is reported by the ADL of having accused Jews of greed in a potential government compensation deal on confiscated property, and denounced Poland's President, Lech Kaczynski, as a "fraudster who is in the pockets of the Jewish lobby." The priest’s remarks were allegedly caught on tape at a lecture this spring and later reported in a Polish newspaper. Reverend Rydzyk has rejected accusations of anti-Semitism and said that he had no intention of offending anyone.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in California, has also denounced Reverend Rydzyk, saying that there should be no place in the Catholic Church for anyone who spreads anti-Semitism. The UK-based Guardian newspaper reported in July that 700 prominent Poles, among them former Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Auschwitz-survivor and former Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, wrote and open letter condemning Reverend Rydzyk. The Guardian also reported that Pope Benedict asked Polish ecclesiastical authorities in 2006 to rein in the controversial priest.
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5:21 AM
Father Rydzyk is not antisemitic, he is only defending a good name of Poland against anti-Polish propaganda in a multitude of Jewish media.
By the way, since Arabs are also Semites - just like Jews - is being anti-Arabic also equivalent to being antisemitic?
5:31 AM
There are no documented facts to back up the apparent insinuations by the author of this article that Father Rydzyk was ever reprimanded or otherwise restrained by either Pope, neither John Paul II, nor Benedict XVI.
In fact, he has been seen and photographed in the presence of both pontiffs when he led delegations of his coworkers from Radio Maryja visiting either pontiff on various occasions.
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