A blow to the biggest family of the world
Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIŚ
The 15th Pilgrimage of the Radio Maryja Family to Jasna Gora, which was held at the beginning of July 2006, got a lot of publicity. This big religious event deserves special attention since impressive crowds of pilgrims from various parts of Poland and abroad gathered there. This was a triumph of Radio Maryja and TV Trwam, which function as one medium. Radio Maryja is a mass transmitter of religious news about the life of the universal Church; it broadcasts the teaching of the Holy Father, of the Polish Episcopate, it invites important personalities representing social, economic and cultural life. It gives information about Polish parishes. Radio Maryja and TV Trwam visit parishes and broadcast various programmes from them. Pastoral leaders can be heard in the Torun studio of Radio Maryja. The microphone has really been opened. The broadcasting time of the Torun radio and television is given to people who have important things to share. Important and essential problems, discussions and polemics are broadcast day and night. One can see a clear difference between the access to the programmes of Radio Maryja and TV Trwam and to the programmes of other media, which scrupulously count their time and money. Other media usually invite the same people and environments or companies that can afford paying for advertisements or publications.
One can hardly imagine Polish religious scene without Radio Maryja and TV Trwam. But one can see unique hostility towards them. The attacks were intensified after the July pilgrimage to Jasna Gora. It seems that the attack at Fr Tadeusz Rydzyk and his work was planned earlier in order to destroy the success of another pilgrimage of Radio Maryja and to discredit it in the opinion of the world. Various means against Fr Rydzyk were accumulated. Let us pay attention to the methods. Someone recorded conversations deceitfully and revealed them through the Internet and on the pages of the weekly that is hostile to Radio Maryja. Does this not remind us of the recent communist times where sad men equipped with recorders followed the orders of the political system and deceitfully recorded people who were courageous enough to think and speak their views openly? I personally know such cases from the times of the activities of the Secret Services. I remember some zealous secret agent whose hidden recorder creaked, which gave him away. Deceitful activities and ruthlessness of action remind us of the dreadful night of communism. I cannot give my opinion concerning the recordings at the Torun school because I did not listen to them. However, I can express my opinion on the method aiming at discrediting Fr Rydzyk. If there was a student who recorded the lectures of his professor for some people or editorial board one should think what kind of person he is. And the editors that accept such a method and use it testify to their work. For them the end justifies the means.
However, the fundamental principle of the Latin culture is that the end does not justify the means. Whoever played the role of a spy, secret agent, he deceitfully looked for news, became a real spy and snooper. The method used against the Director of Radio Maryja is taken as an affront and is alien to our culture. If media want to be righteous they should work in a worthy and honourable way. The circumstances clearly show that they meant to assault the pilgrimage of Radio Maryja, the Father Director and Jasna Gora that is a symbol of religious values and home for the Catholic nation. Radio Maryja is also a carrier of these values and Fr Rydzyk is a priest who greatly supports the Polish pastoral ministry, significant issues of the Church and Polish Catholic culture. It was good that a letter signed by Catholic intellectualists defending Fr Rydzyk was published. I think that Catholic society should show their solidarity since the liberal forces, hostile to the Church, attack the people who guard what is most important.
"Niedziela" 30/2007