A Polish archbishop has said the Catholic Church must not accept anti-Semitism within its ranks, calling it "irrational behavior". Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin spoke to reporters during a conference in Jerusalem focusing on the relationships between the Polish Catholic Church, Jews and Israel. "In the case of Lublin ... we emphasize that [the Jews] were present in our life, in cultural solidarity. It is part of our cultural heritage," he said. Some anti-Semitic incidents showed a "generational problem" and a problem of "social frustration" more than a cultural phenomenon, he said. He cited as an example the issue of Radio Maryja's director Tadeusz Rydzyk, who has been accused of anti-Semitic remarks and insulting the Polish president.
Even the younger generation of Redemptorist priests were sceptical of Radio Maryja's message, said Zycinski, noting that the ideas predated the Second Vatican Council and the followers were a minute percentage of the population. An anti-Semitic idea "shouldn't be accepted, but there are groups where it plays a role." For "the elderly it is a form of psychological support to defend Polish identity," he said, adding that Father Rydzyk was "'anti-' in general." He said that today dialogue between Catholics and Jews was a "much stronger trend" and that in a few years there will be a cultural transformation. The younger generation is pro-dialogue."
In 1939, Poland had the largest population of Jews in Europe - an estimated three million people - most of whom were killed by the Nazis. Today, around 25,000 Jews live in Poland.
