(Was a) Deacon's Blog

My recent posting on the possibility of an Indian National Catholic Church (INCC) elicited a few comments.

It seems that when I post something slightly provocative I get a few comments.

I’ve often wondered if my homilies are too staid. They don’t tend to obtain comments or criticism to any extent (by-the-way, I appreciate Fr. Martin Fox’s and Deacon Dan Wright’s occasional comments on my homilies). I’m thinking that my homilies should be more provocative, contain more heat, ne pas?

Now obviously my commentary on the possibility of an INCC was slightly tongue-in-cheek.

The real point was an exhibition of issues faith communities face when dealing with an administrative bureaucracy that evolves into a roadblock to faith and a detriment to communal interaction – for the faith.

That bureaucracy is the self-same faced by the founders of the PNCC so many years ago. It is the same bureaucracy Luther faced down. The same bureaucracy that any genuine reformer has had to deal with (and remember Bishop Hodur tried to work from the inside on reasonable reform).

Now the Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk, CSsR is another case-in-point.

This priest has built an enormous empire that is centered around his media outlet, primarily Radio Maryja. With down-to-earth appeals (the Holy Mass, Rosary, children calling in to recite prayers), he has appealed to working class and rural listenersThe MSM characterization of those who follow Radio Maryja as poor and uneducated Poles (read dumb Pollacks) is deeply insulting and incorrect. I’ve personally seen children come from these villages, enter an American High School, and come out a year later as valedictorians. I hope that the MSM gets a clue someday about the people they put down so willingly. who have a strong grounding in their faith. I say, nothing wrong with that.

Rather than focus on those core themes, and activating people through prayer, self-sacrifice, and charity, he has corrupted his empire into a money making political machine. He has not activated Catholics, he has activated politicos.

He holds sway over a large sector of “conservativeAs the Young Fogey would point out, not at all like real conservatives” voters; and much in the same manner as Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, etc., he has ushered in political leaders, from whom he expects allegiance.

The threat of censure has been hung over his head by the Polish Bishops, but in reality they do nothing.

This, like the INCC issue, is meant to point to the weaknesses in a bureaucracy that is in need of reform. Maybe you would call it another stop, a sign post in the Twilight Zone of reform.

As to the Rev. Rydzyk, in my opinion he is in need of strong medicine, so that he might recall who and what he is, a priest, a member of the Redemptorists, and a servant of Jesus Christ and His Church. The Roman Church, being true to what She represents, would do well to have the Superior General of the Redemptorists call him to repentance, and remove him from his empire. A good priest would walk away, sic transit gloria mundi. Should he refuse, suspend him. Should he further refuse, excommunicate him.

But, all that is dependent upon the action of a bureaucracy.

A story on the Rev. Rydzyk’s most recent foray into identity politics and his reach into the political arena follows:

From the AP via the UJF of Tidewater: Israel urges Poland, Catholic church to condemn priest over anti-Semitic comments

WARSAW, Poland – Israel is urging Polish and Roman Catholic authorities to condemn a prominent priest over reported anti-Jewish comments, which its ambassador described Monday as the worst case of anti-Semitic speech in Poland in decades.

The Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk, who runs a conservative media empire that includes the Catholic station Radio Maryja, was allegedly caught on tape suggesting that Jews are greedy and Polish President Lech Kaczynski is subservient to Jewish lobbies.

The remarks allegedly were made in the spring, but they only surfaced this month in the weekly magazine Wprost. Rydzyk himself has rejected accusations of anti-Semitism and said he “didn’t intend to offend anyone.”

Israel’s ambassador to Poland, David Peleg, said the statements mark a setback in the progress Poland has made toward Jewish-Catholic reconciliation and in fighting anti-Semitism since Communism fell, and said extensive diplomatic efforts were under way to persuade Warsaw to condemn the priest.

…

“I hope to see a condemnation from the Catholic Church of Poland,” Peleg said.

So far, Poland’s leaders have withheld comment, saying they were waiting to see if the tapes were authentic.

But the Rome-based Redemptorists – the missionary order to which Rydzyk belongs – supported him in a statement published last week in Nasz Dziennik, a daily newspaper that belongs to Rydzyk’s media empire.

“Concerning the content of the ‘tapes,’ which bear signs of compilation, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk does not confirm the anti-Semitic attitude ascribed to him. And as his brothers who know him, we know that such an attitude is alien to him,” the order’s chief representative in Poland, the Rev. Zdzislaw Klafka, wrote in a statement printed on the front page of Nasz Dziennik.

Klafka also called Wprost’s scoop a “serious provocation” and “media manipulation” and said Wprost has a history of offending Catholics.

Rydzyk himself has suggested the tapes were doctored.

The tapes allegedly caught Rydzyk accusing President Kaczynski of subservience to Jewish lobbies. He also allegedly called the nation’s first lady, Maria Kaczynska, a “witch” for supporting abortion rights and said she should be euthanized for that.

Oh, and bring on the heat…