Praying for listeners' forgiveness

Controversial broadcaster Radio Maryja has admitted that donations from listeners worth some zł.15 million went to buy shares in a listed construction company that subsequently went bankrupt in 2002.

"Unfortunately, this very rich company ... did not prove to be a good investment. We are still puzzled by what happened," a statement from the broadcaster reads.
Newspaper reports said Radio Maryja collected millions of złoty from listeners in 1997-1998 to save the Gdańsk shipyard, the cradle of the Solidarity movement, from bankruptcy. The money was then invested on the WSE. According to press reports, the shipyard never received any money.

It turns out that this wasn't the radio's only failed investment. In 1997 Radio Maryja's director, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, bought Bydgoszcz-based newspaper Ilustrowany Kurier Polski, which went bankrupt within a year.

Prosecutors said they were considering investigating the affair. "I do not rule out that this incident may be used in a probe if we decide to launch an investigation," said prosecutor Julita Sobczyk.

The news is another blow to the controversial radio station. The Vatican recently called on the Polish church "to solve difficulties caused by some of Radio Maryja's broadcasts and activities," after commentator Stanisław Michalkiewicz accused Jews of "trying to force our government to pay extortion money disguised as 'compensation payments'" for property lost during and after World War II. (Reuters)