Posted on 01/06/2007 11:29:20 AM PST by JoAnka
Even after archbishop Wielgus's apology for his communist collaboration, pressures on him to step down from the post of archbishop metropolitan of Warsaw do not weaken.
A small group of Poles rallied peacefully yesterday night before the Warsaw residence of Archbishop Wielgus, who has now been proven to have been a spy for the communist era secret services. The protesters gathered under a banner saying "non possumus", meaning "we cannot allow that" to pray for the bishop to change his mind and resign. They said they were disappointed not so much by the archbishop's past, for which he eventually apologized, but by the fact that for the past several days he kept denying the charges which turned out to be true. The protesters were especially distraught by the fact that the first words of apology came from the bishop only after he had officially taken the office of the metropolitan of Warsaw. Archbishop Wielgus was appointed to the post of archbishop metropolitan of Warsaw yesterday evening, though the official inauguration ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow.
The newest opinion poll shows that only 8% of Poles are of the opinion that archbishop Wielgus has nothing to apologize for. 46% think the archbishop should resign on his own accord or at least postpone taking the office of archbishop metropolitan of Warsaw until the case is officially cleared. 22% think the decision is up to the Pope. 21% are of the opinion that the inauguration ceremony should proceed as planned after the archbishop has explained and apologized for everything he has done.
The Church is still divided on whether the bishop's late apology for communist collaboration is satisfactory. Politicians and commentators have voiced their objections to archbishops Wielgus' forthcoming official inauguration ceremony, saying that his apology that came too late, following many days of denial, are signs that, for the bishop, his own position is more important than the good of the Church.
Polish President, Lech Kaczyński, has said that he will attend the Sunday ceremony, since that is his duty. It is still unknown whether the Prime Minister will take part in the archbishop's inauguration. Some high Church officials, such as archbishop metropolitan of Gdańsk, Tadeusz Gocłowski, have announced that they will not be present at the ceremony.
Meanwhile, embarrassment and irritation has been reported in the Holy See. Only days ago, the Vatican press office expressed the full support for archbishop Wielgus, saying that the Holy Father "has the utmost trust" in the nominee. That was at the time when archbishop Wielgus was still denying the charges. Some members of the Roman Curia are concerned that the Pope's reputation might be hurt by the affair.
According to the Catholic daily "Nasz Dziennik" the media turmoil over the case of archbishop Wielgus is a way to distract attention from the fact that the media themselves are full of past communist collaborators still working and influencing the public opinion to the present day.
A ping?
Judas had enough decency to hang himself. Wielgus ought to do as much.
ping
When do we get to see the list of collaborators with the old USSR here in this country? Surely someone has the list. I don't expect the NYT to insist that the people have the right to know who was in bed with the Communists, because I'll bet a number of NYT writers were fellow travelers.
What happened to Stanislaw in the title?
The font got indigestion. That "l" thing in his name is not an "l." A different character is needed, L with a slash through it, and it wasn't available. The letter is pronounced something like our "w."
Appreciated.
Step down? He should be excommunicated.
The thing is the Church really IS divided on this. That's the problem. And it will remain so, sadly. If he stepped down, things could calm down a bit.
The name spelled in Polish has a Polish letter in it instead of "l". It messed up.
************
Excellent observations.
FR doesn't support non-English fonts in thread titles.
Again, appreciated.
Boy, is that an easy bet! :-) :-)
Walter Duranty comes to mind, except he wasn't a mere fellow traveller, he was a raging Stalinist. He got a pulitzer for covering up one of history's greatest crimes, Stalin's deliberate starvation of millions of peasants in Ukraine. Herbert Matthews helped put Castro in power, also by telling lies in the NYTimes. Some of today's Times team still are fellow travellers. For my two cents, you could start with the publisher and chairman of the board, Pinch Sulzberger.
I couldn't care less about the church [being an atheist myself] . But I am an anticommunist [was born and grew up in the USSR of cursed memory before getting out], so my opinion is based on those grounds. The best [in the grand scheme of things] he could do would be not merely to step down, but to follow Judas to the letter, and hang himself from an ash tree. Are there any ash trees growing in Warsaw or its environs?
Even if he is a retired communist spy, he is still a proven liar.
Every time I read about this guy, I think of Father Jerzy Popieluszko and wonder if he was involved in that murder. Anybody know what 'Archbishop' Wielgus was doing in 1984?
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