Roman Giertych seeks to revoke Radio Maryja's license

In a recent post on X, Giertych argues that the controversial activities of Fr. Tadeusz Rydzyk, director of the Catholic Radio Maryja, violate the concordat between Poland and the Holy See, and thus the station's operations should be banned.

Roman Giertych

(tg/ibor) PAP/Tomasz Gzell

Giertych is calling for the Supreme Audit Office to investigate the funding provided to Fr. Rydzyk during the previous PiS government, particularly at the upcoming meeting of the PiS settlement team in September.

Attorney Giertych, who is an active lawyer, has detailed how he believes the concordat is breached by the overt propaganda of PiS funded by Rydzyk’s institutions, such as the Lux Veritatis Foundation, which owns TV Trwam.

Na wrześniowym posiedzeniu Zespołu KO ds. Rozliczenia PiS spotkamy się z inspektorami NIK, aby omówić zakres kontroli dotacji udzielanych dla „dzieł” o. Rydzyka. https://t.co/24akhAGph8

— Roman Giertych (@GiertychRoman) August 18, 2024

Giertych calls for revoking Radio Maryja's license, cites state subsidies and propaganda

Giertych estimates that over the past eight years, the state has subsidized Rydzyk's institutions with hundreds of millions of złoty, including significant amounts from the Justice Fund. He asserts that Radio Maryja has become a blatant propaganda tool for PiS, with ample evidence of this propaganda.

He argues that the Polish state cannot ignore the Catholic Church's involvement in PiS election campaigns and calls for decisive action to ensure the concordat is respected by both parties.

Giertych suggests that revoking Radio Maryja's license should be a priority following a presidential election win and that any new religious institution receiving the license should guarantee adherence to the concordat.

According to data collected by the award-winning investigative journalist Bianka Mikołajewska, public funds supporting the activities of the controversial cleric from Toruń amount to nearly 380 million PLN (approximately 84.7 million EUR). 

https://t.co/RyS4WK5dAr pic.twitter.com/otKWNHtkkl

— Bianka Mikołajewska (@BMikolajewska) October 19, 2023

"Exorcism specialist" comments on Giertych's post

Hanna Karp, a member of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), has criticized Giertych's proposal in an article published by radiomaryja.pl.

In response, Giertych remarked on social media that he only learned of Karp's role as an exorcism specialist due to her critical stance.

Gdyby nie to, że pani Hanna Karp słusznie skrytykowała, mocą swojego autorytetu naukowego, moje bezbożne plany pozbawienia koncesji Radio Maryja, to bym się nie dowiedział, że specjalistka od egzorcyzmów zasiada w KRRiT. Jak to przeżywa jej szef Świrski? https://t.co/QR36vRWa6p

— Roman Giertych (@GiertychRoman) August 19, 2024

Karp, appointed to the KRRiT by President Duda in 2022, has been a long-time lecturer at a controversial media school founded by Rydzyk, and is known for her writings on occultism and contributions to the magazine "Egzorcysta."

Source: IAR/PAP/x.com/KRRiT

(m p)