WIESENTHAL CENTER CALLS POLISH PRIEST’S APOLOGY FOR ANTI-SEMITIC COMMENTS UNACCEPTABLE

Center reiterates its call for Vatican to take charge in disciplining controversial priest

In consideration of the damage to Catholic/Jewish relations caused by his anti-Semitic remarks, The Simon Wiesenthal Center said the apology by controversial Polish Catholic leader Father Tadeusz Rydzyk was not enough.

“Father Rydzyk knows very well the anti-Semitic remarks he made and the impact on people around the world," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. "To say that ‘if anybody felt insulted, I apologize,’ is even more insulting considering his blatant anti-Semitic remarks. We reiterate our call to the Vatican to discipline Father Rydzyk.”

When Rydzyk’s comments, which were made in response to the Polish government’s $65 billion  Holocaust restitution package, were first made public two weeks ago, Rabbi Hier called him  “a Josef Goebbels in a collar” who made Jews the scapegoats of a political crisis.” The Center also launched a petition campaigned that generated over 20,000 signatories who called on Rydzyk’s superiors in Krakow and Rome to discipline him.