Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Solidarity Priest Dies

Editor: Why don't famous Jews receive criticism for their anti-Catholic remarks when they die?

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPublished: July 14, 2010 WARSAW (AP) - The Rev. Henryk Jankowski, a Polish priest who gained prominence in the 1980s by supporting Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement but later saw his reputation marred by anti-Semitic remarks and an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, died on Monday in Gdansk. He was 73.His death was announced by Pawel Adamowicz, the mayor of Gdansk. Mr. Adamowicz did not give a cause of death, but Polish news reports noted that Father Jankowski had battled diabetes for years.

Father Jankowski, who was the parish priest for the St. Brygida church in Gdansk, came to national prominence when he celebrated Masses for shipyard workers striking under Mr. Walesa's leadership - resistance that paved the way for Communism's eventual demise in Poland. He was one of many priests who waded into dangerous waters to support Solidarity's struggle for freedom against Communist rule.

Father Jankowski's reputation took a battering in the years after Communism's collapse because of anti-Semitic remarks he made. During one homily, for instance, he said that members of "the Jewish minority cannot be tolerated in the Polish government."

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/world/europe/14jankowski.xml
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