For Church and Nation!
The Radio Maryja Movement in Today’s Poland
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Since 1991, the arch-conservative broadcaster Radio Maryja has caused a stir with its reporting. Father Tadeusz Rydzyk has built up a media empire that can mobilise hundreds of thousands. The followers of this movement share a simple view of the world. According to it, there is an eternal struggle between good and evil: Hostile powers are trying to destroy Poland, the bastion of Roman Catholicism. The enemies are liberals, the European Union, Free Masons, Jews, but also liberal Catholics. The Polish episcopate confronts the Radio Maryja movement only half-heartedly. But the political influence of Radio Maryja is limited. The movement has passed its zenith.
(Osteuropa 6/2009, pp. 113–128)