Polish priest faces possible jail time after controversial remarks

Published: 2007-07-12

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A Redemptorist priest who runs Poland's largest Catholic broadcast agency faces possible jail time after describing Polish President Lech Kaczynski as "a crook subservient to the Jewish lobby." Prosecutors in Torun, where Radio Maryja is based, said they would consider charges against Father Tadeusz Rydzyk under a criminal code clause calling for three years in jail for insulting the head of state. The priest denied making the remarks and insisted he was the victim of "another provocation." The Redemptorist province in Warsaw said July 9 it had set up a team to make a "proper analysis of the existing situation" after the Wprost weekly published a transcript of Father Rydzyk's alleged statement to a student meeting, during which he also called Poland's first lady, Maria, a "witch." The British news agency Reuters reported July 10 that the priest is heard on a tape of the meeting criticizing the president, his brother and his wife for supporting limited abortion rights. "The first lady with this euthanasia. ... You witch, I'll let you have it. If you want to kill people, do it to yourself first," Reuters reported the priest as saying on the tape. Kaczynski urged the church July 10 to take action against Father Rydzyk, saying insults aimed at Poland's leaders were a matter of government-church relations, reported Reuters.

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