Tadeusz Pieronek
Encyclopedia
Tadeusz Pieronek is a Polish Roman Catholic
auxiliary bishop
-emeritus
, Catholic academic and professor of theology
and civil law
. Pieronek is a leading member of the Stefan Batory Foundation
(a George Soros
Foundation branch
in Poland
).
village of Radziechowy near Żywiec
in interbellum Poland
. Ordained
a priest
in 1957 under the communist regime
, from 1951-1954 he studied at the Theological Faculty of the Jagiellonian University
in Cracow, then afters its dissolution by the Communist government at the major seminary of the archdiocese of Cracow, from 1956 until 1960 at the Faculty of Canon Law
at the Catholic University of Lublin. From 1961 until 1965 he studied in Rome
at the Pontifical Lateran University
, specializing in civil law
as well as canon law. He received his doctorate in 1975, and was appointed theology professor in 1987.
He was auxiliary bishop
of the Sosnowiec from 1992 to 1998. From 1993 until 1998 he was secretary-general of the Polish bishops' conference. In 1998 he resigned his post after Piotr Libera
was elected bishop and Pieronek was appointed titular bishop of Cufrura. From 1998 to 2004 he was rector of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. In 2007 he celebrated his 50th priestly anniversary with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz in his present residence in Cracow. In 2008, Pieronek received the Jan Karski
Eagle Award to honour Pieronek's combat for tolerance and his efforts to fight against the "extremism" and alleged "antisemitic tendencies" of Radio Maryja
, led by Redemptorist Father Tadeusz Rydzyk
C.Ss.R. In recent years, Pieronek has supported the social project of the Children's Hospice „Father Józef Tischner
” in the city of Cracow. Bishop Pieronek supports the work of the Open Society Institute
of George Soros
.
and the state of Israel
"exploit" the Holocaust, which he labelled as such a "Jewish invention", but a crime he did not statistically or historically deny. Furthermore, Pieronek stated that the suffering of people at the hands of Nazis and in concentration camps was "not exclusively Jewish", pointing to Polish prisoners and treatment of Catholic
priests by Nazi authorities. In the interview he said that recent Israeli and Jewish
claims that Poland
is antisemitic and might consider reparation payments to Jewish Holocaust survivors, were calumnious, ridiculous and a falsification of the complex history of Polish society; simultaneously Pieronek stated, that western
and U.S.
media and politics are dominated by Jews. The Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) criticized Pieronek's statement. On January 26, bishop Pieronek stated, that his statements had been taken out of context and totally misunderstood.
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
auxiliary bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
-emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
, Catholic academic and professor of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and civil law
Civil law (area)
Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
. Pieronek is a leading member of the Stefan Batory Foundation
Stefan Batory Foundation
The Stefan Batory Foundation is the name of the national Soros Foundation in Poland. It was named after Stephen Báthory of Poland, the 16th-century Polish king....
(a George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
Foundation branch
Soros Foundation
A Soros Foundation is one of a network of national foundations, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, which fund volunteer socio-political activity, created by George Soros, international financier and self-proclaimed philanthropist, and coordinated since early 1994 by a management team called the...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
).
Biography
Pieronek was born to Polish parents in the Zywiec BeskidsZywiec Beskids
The Żywiec Beskids is a mountain range in the Outer Eastern Carpathians in southern Poland. It is the second highest range in Poland, after the Tatra Mountains. The highest peak is Babia Góra and Pilsko .- References :...
village of Radziechowy near Żywiec
Zywiec
Żywiec is a town in south-central Poland with 32,242 inhabitants . Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship....
in interbellum Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
. Ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
a priest
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
in 1957 under the communist regime
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
, from 1951-1954 he studied at the Theological Faculty of the Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
in Cracow, then afters its dissolution by the Communist government at the major seminary of the archdiocese of Cracow, from 1956 until 1960 at the Faculty of Canon Law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
at the Catholic University of Lublin. From 1961 until 1965 he studied in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
at the Pontifical Lateran University
Pontifical Lateran University
The Pontifical Lateran University is a university by pontifical right based in Rome, Italy. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family...
, specializing in civil law
Civil law (area)
Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
as well as canon law. He received his doctorate in 1975, and was appointed theology professor in 1987.
He was auxiliary bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
of the Sosnowiec from 1992 to 1998. From 1993 until 1998 he was secretary-general of the Polish bishops' conference. In 1998 he resigned his post after Piotr Libera
Piotr Libera
Piotr Libera is a Polish bishop. He was Suffragan bishop of Katowice from 1996 to 2007, and secretary general of the Episcopate of Poland .Since May 2, 2007 Piotr Libera is the bishop of Płock...
was elected bishop and Pieronek was appointed titular bishop of Cufrura. From 1998 to 2004 he was rector of the Pontifical Academy of Theology. In 2007 he celebrated his 50th priestly anniversary with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz in his present residence in Cracow. In 2008, Pieronek received the Jan Karski
Jan Karski
Jan Karski was a Polish World War II resistance movement fighter and later scholar at Georgetown University. In 1942 and 1943 Karski reported to the Polish government in exile and the Western Allies on the situation in German-occupied Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, and...
Eagle Award to honour Pieronek's combat for tolerance and his efforts to fight against the "extremism" and alleged "antisemitic tendencies" of Radio Maryja
Radio Maryja
Radio Maryja is a Polish religious, conservative, anti-post-Communist and pro-life Roman Catholic radio station and media group, describing itself as patriotic. It was founded in Toruń, Poland, on December 9, 1991 and has been run since its inception by the Redemptorist rector doctor Tadeusz...
, led by Redemptorist Father Tadeusz Rydzyk
Tadeusz Rydzyk
Tadeusz Rydzyk , born May 3, 1945 in Olkusz, Poland, is a Roman Catholic priest and Redemptorist, creator and head of the conservative and controversial Radio Maryja radio station, rector and doctor of the University of Social and Medial Culture in Toruń....
C.Ss.R. In recent years, Pieronek has supported the social project of the Children's Hospice „Father Józef Tischner
Józef Tischner
Józef Stanisław Tischner was an eminent Polish priest and philosopher. The first chaplain of the trade union, "Solidarity" , he was an exceptional moral authority and one of the most admired figures in Poland, both during and after the anti-communist uprising.Tischner was born in Stary Sącz to a...
” in the city of Cracow. Bishop Pieronek supports the work of the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
of George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
.
Holocaust interview
In an interview in 2010, Pieronek claimed that JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
"exploit" the Holocaust, which he labelled as such a "Jewish invention", but a crime he did not statistically or historically deny. Furthermore, Pieronek stated that the suffering of people at the hands of Nazis and in concentration camps was "not exclusively Jewish", pointing to Polish prisoners and treatment of Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priests by Nazi authorities. In the interview he said that recent Israeli and Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
claims that Poland
History of Poland
The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
is antisemitic and might consider reparation payments to Jewish Holocaust survivors, were calumnious, ridiculous and a falsification of the complex history of Polish society; simultaneously Pieronek stated, that western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
and U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
media and politics are dominated by Jews. The Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
(ADL) criticized Pieronek's statement. On January 26, bishop Pieronek stated, that his statements had been taken out of context and totally misunderstood.