The Press Freedom Monitoring Center of the Association of Polish Journalists strongly protests against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' attempts to censor the homilies and statements of clergy by sending a diplomatic letter to the Vatican, manipulating the content of the religious speeches delivered by two bishops during this year's Radio Maryja Family pilgrimage to Jasna Góra.
Foreign Minister Rdosław Sikorski, husband of well-known American journalist and historian Anne Applebaum, decided to review the Jasna Góra sermons and report their authors to the Vatican. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a "démarche" to the Holy See regarding the misleading content of Bishop Wiesław Mering's sermon and Bishop Antoni Długosz's statements. The letter contains brazen attempts to review the homilies, deeming them inconsistent with Church teaching. It contains threats and claims of violations of the concordat. It is also rife with embarrassing errors. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confuses the dates of the events described, confuses quotations from the sermons with statements, and even uses the names of institutions that do not exist.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' letter also contains requests for the bishops to be punished by the Holy See. It violates the principle of separation of church and state and undermines religious freedom. This letter also exemplifies a drastic violation of the principle of freedom of speech, fundamental to every democratic state.
PN: The old communist days returned faster than expected, but to those who observe current events in Poland, it is not surprising.
- Based on reporting by Wpolityce(.)pl
