Jewish groups condemn remarks by Polish priest

Jun 28, 2011, 13:40 GMT

Warsaw - Jewish groups condemned Polish priest Tadeusz Rydzyk on Tuesday for his comment last week that Poland has not been ruled by Poles since the outbreak of World War II - a statement they interpreted as meaning Jews were in charge of the country.

Rydzyk told the European Parliament last week that Poland was a totalitarian state that 'has not been ruled by Poles since 1939.'

Many in Poland took the comment to mean the country was controlled by Jews, as Rydzyk founded the radio station Radio Maryja, which is infamous for anti-Semitic remarks.

'It is high time that Father Rydzyk and his Radio Marya be excommunicated,' said a statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish rights group.

The World Jewish Congress, an organization representing Jewish communities, also called on the Vatican to expel Rydzyk and to publicly distance itself from him.

'Rydzyk and his radio station have a long track record of inciting people to hate Jews and others,' the congress said.

Rydzyk's comment sparked an outcry in Poland and was condemned by both European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who sent a note to the Vatican on Saturday saying the controversial priest was harming Poland's image abroad.

A Vatican spokesman said Monday that Rydzyk speaks in his own name and his statements do not involve the Holy See.

Rydzyk came under fire in 2007, when he was allegedly recorded saying then-President Lech Kaczynski served a Jewish lobby.

More recently, he made a controversial comment to a black missionary during a pilgrimage in July 2009, telling an audience, ''God ... Look, he hasn't washed at all.'

Rydzyk's ultra-Catholic radio station Radio Maryja is popular among conservative, elderly Poles, and has come previously under fire for racist or anti-Semitic remarks.