Polish Clergy Criticize U.S. Film About Pope

A U.S. documentary about Pope John Paul II shown on Polish Television on 16 October has elicited criticism from Roman Catholic circles, PAP reported. Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek said the film's presentation of the issue of anti-Semitism "does not seem to harmonize with what the pope has done for Jews." Poland's primate, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, said the decision to show the documentary was politically and ideologically motivated. "I think many people working in mass media, and especially public television, are linked with the old system based on Marxism and Leninism," Glemp noted. And priest Wieslaw Nieweglowski sent a letter to the Polish Television president saying that the film presents the pope "from the viewpoint of Jewish and lay circles" and "evokes pity for the intellectual paucity of its makers." Polish Television on 18 October apologized "to all viewers who feel offended" by the film.