Polish bishops defend regulations that would restrict clergy comments

Published: 2003-10-31

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Poland's bishops defended new regulations that would oblige clergy to obtain a bishop's permission before giving comments to the media. However, a leading Catholic priest attacked the move as a "return to censorship" and warned it would give a "bad signal to society." "The bishops have a right to issue regulations specifying certain matters -- canon law clearly establishes this," said the bishops' spokesman, Father Jozef Kloch. The priest was responding to a report by Poland's Catholic Information Agency, KAI, which said the still-unpublished regulations, cleared by the bishops' conference at an Oct. 21-22 Warsaw session, would impose sanctions for clergy making unauthorized press remarks. In an Oct. 28 Catholic News Service interview, Father Kloch said the restrictions had been welcomed after a brief discussion by the bishops and were now awaiting Vatican approval. However, Jesuit Father Stanislaw Musial, a leading commentator and essayist, said he would "never agree" to have his media statements checked in advance. "When someone speaks in the church's name and imparts church teaching, he should follow the judgment of the magisterium," the priest said.

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