‘SUNDAY’: DO NOT EXCLUDE THE TELEVISION TRWAM
Fr. IRENEUSZ SKUBIŚ
In my mind there are still the words of cardinal Józef Glemp who used to be calling for normality in Poland at Jasna Góra, so that everything would be ordinary and logical in our country. Today, when we are looking at the past 20 years after the free elections in 1989, we are making some summaries. And a question comes to our minds: Is Poland a normal country…
It seems that in the freedom conditions we should become this kind of country. We know that in the very beginning we underwent a hard trial, being a work of some forces of not only European but also the world-wide range. We were helped to maintain what is the most important one by the Holy Father John Paul II, who often arrived to his homeland, reminded about our Christian roots and spoke about the Catholic mission of Poland towards countries of Europe and the world. However, in the year 1989 organization of the country had already been influenced by some unclear trends for us at that time, having an influence on the option of our country. At that time it were just Polish mass media – press, radio, television – which, in majority, were annexed by some groups acting in their interests. And it happens so till now. In these media the presence of the majority of the Catholics is not seen and Christian values are not preferred by them. Moreover, new processes started, influencing the further development of economy, among the others, they resulted in the sale of the national property. Poland, which used to have well-developed heavy industry, light industry, agriculture, suddenly got into a situation of economic shots. We did not have much financial resources, capital was abroad. For this reason we could not export our products, because they did not often meet required world standards. We were told to adjust ourselves to foreign requirements or get rid of our industrial works – mills, mines, sugar factories, etc., and even some shutdowns, providing a foreign capitalist with customers in this way. In this way we found ourselves as the nation in difficult conditions: unemployment was increasing and poverty got into many houses. We realized that the foreign capital had been coming to Poland from love towards us, but from the eagerness of benefit, gaining prevalence and power towards other subjects, with which it had been competing.
We are still undergoing a media trial, aiming at changing our way of thinking, including the change of values important to us so far. There are also attempts to take away faith from us and discourage us to the Church. We find it difficult to cope with it, we cannot face the anti-Catholic propaganda, because it is a broad-based business of the whole media machine, especially of the electronic one, using new psychological-sociological systems.
In this way a complicated situation was caused, among the others, when considering the place of the Television Trwam on the digital multiplex, that is, its normal broadcasting all over Poland. Certainly, the first places belong to the public television.
But also many private broadcasters received their concessions, whereas the Television Trwam has not got it. Also in the another granting allowances for this concession is very uncertain. More and more new accusations are being formulated against this television station, manipulating people’s way of thinking, which results in the appearance of aggressive atheistic movements in our country, which are hostile to God and the Church. The representatives of these options often have a voice in mass media, whereas the voice of the Catholics is hardly unheard or mocked at.
So, the situation is not easy. Whereas the Television Trwam has its own tradition (it has existed since 2003), is popular among viewers and is supported bye the Polish Episcopal and the Holy See – so it meets all requirements necessary for a station broadcasting Catholic programs. So, today we are submitting our demand again, which results from the principles of democracy: We must not underestimate 2.5 million signatures with the request for the place of the Television Trwam on the digital multiplex. We must not ignore the fact that in Polish cities about 150 manifestations in this issue have taken place. So how can one doubt?! Especially that policymakers are not owners of either Poland or the television in this issue. They are only clerks whose decisions cannot be subjective but must respect the will of the nation.
Poland is a country in which the democratic majority must have their rights. As the editorial office of the Catholic Weekly ‘Sunday’ we demand paying attention by the National Broadcasting Council to the voice of the nation and its will. Our nation has a right to defend its Christian culture from the flood of imported laic ideologies of Freemasonry which confuse people’s minds and lead astray.
(AA)
"Niedziela" 4/2013