Speaker of the Senate Bogdan Borusewicz has criticised the Pope on Polish Radio, saying that Benedict XVI is “making one mistake after another”.
“For me Benedict XVI is departing from the line drawn and realised by John Paul II. This is not a good situation. I – as a member of the Church – am deeply concerned,” said Borusewicz, an independent member of the Senate, the upper house of parliament.
The politician’s words have caused quite a stir in Poland. Prof. Waldemar Chrostowski of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw and the University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Torun said that politicians, and especially believing ones, should not criticize Popes.
Meanwhile, Polish nationalist-Catholic Nasz Dziennik writes that Borusewicz’s statement is a part of a wave of criticism towards Pope Benedict XVI for his decision to cancel the excommunication of four Lefebvrist bishops.
According to Nasz Dziennik, “the excuse for protests from some quarters ” is the fact that among the restored bishops is Richard Williamson, who has been daubed as a Holocaust denier‘. (jm)