Vatican Media Watch

Polish Publisher Fined for Insulting Pope

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 25 — A former Communist propagandist has been convicted in a Polish court of criminal defamation for jokes about Pope John Paul II.

Jerzy Urban, 71-year-old publisher of the satirical weekly No, was fined $6,500 for comments published August 2002. Urban, who won notoriety as chief spokesman for the 1980s dictatorship of General Wojciech Jaruzelski, mocked the Holy Father’s world travels in light of his advanced age, calling him “a walking sadomasochist” and “his Divine Senility.”

After the verdict, supporters of the Pope complained the fine was “too little,” while Urban argued it proved Poland was dominated by the Catholic Church. The verdict has been condemned by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute.


Weeping Statue Supernatural Event, Study Concludes

TOWNSVILLE BULLETIN/SUN (Australia), Jan. 25 — A study of Italy’s weeping Madonna has concluded there is no rational explanation for it.

The statue in the town of Civitavecchia, 40 miles north of Rome, was seen to have shed tears of blood 10 years ago. According to a diocesan investigation, disclosed by the newspaper Corriere della Sera, “An event took place that has no human explanation and points at the mystery of the supernatural.” The Jan. 24 story was written by Vittorio Messori, whose questions to Pope John Paul II resulted in the book Crossing the Threshold of Hope.


John Paul’s New Memoir Goes to Press

LONDON TIMES, Jan. 24 — Memory and Identity, a new book by Pope John Paul II to be published over Easter, is certain to be a worldwide best seller.

The book’s publisher, Lord George Weidenfeld, said the 400-page memoir constitutes the Holy Father’s “last testament,” in which he will, for the first time, describe his state of his mind during the 1981 assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca.

According to Weidenfeld, “It is a kind of legacy in which he deals with some of the major questions that vex him, such as the future of the Church, the essence of national socialism, the essence of communism and the variants of evil.”

The Pope’s royalties, as always, will go to charity.


Cardinal Arinze: Faith Demands Sacrifice

DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Jan. 22 — Cardinal Francis Arinze, who visited Dallas last month, is not interested in discussing his reputed status as a future pope. But the 72-year-old Nigerian prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship did share his views on a variety of subjects with the Dallas Morning News.

Cardinal Arinze said of the kidnapping of a Catholic bishop in Iraq, “We cannot solve violence with violence. We have to try to solve hatred with love.” Of the ecumenical movement, he said, “There are many people sacrificing themselves for others. Often they do not catch the headlines.”

On the conflicts between religious duty and secular demands faced by politicians, Cardinal Arinze said, “A person should be clear on what that person’s religion teaches … and make an effort to live it. It demands sacrifice.”