The hard-right priest, whose media empire has long been criticised for promoting religious extremism and nationalism - even drawing criticism from the Vatican - appeared for three hours on Wednesday at the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Rzeszów, southeastern Poland.
The questioning focused on the state-funded construction of the Museum of Memory and Identity, dedicated to Pope John Paul II.
Between 2018 and 2023, under the Law and Justice (PiS) government, Rydzyk’s Lux Veritatis Foundation received 219 million PLN (€51.8 million) from the Ministry of Culture to support the project.
Following an audit, the National Revenue Administration filed a report citing potential criminal liability for failing to adequately safeguard the interests of the State Treasury.
A day earlier, former Culture Minister Piotr Gliński, who served under PiS, was questioned for eight hours in connection with the investigation.
According to a joint podcast by Radio Zet and Newsweek, Rydzyk reportedly met with the current Culture Minister, Marta Cienkowska, prior to his hearing.
In response to the audit report, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage announced it intends to annul contracts signed during Gliński’s tenure with Lux Veritatis and to recover PLN 210 million (€49.7 million), plus interest, for the State Treasury.
The ministry’s position is that if substantial public funds are spent on building and running a museum, it must be located on state-owned land.
In this case, however, the Museum of Memory and Identity was constructed on land owned by the Lux Veritatis Foundation.
Below is a summary of the funds secured by Rydzyk during the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government, cited in the context of recent events by MEP Dariusz Joński of the centrist-liberal Civic Coalition.
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Source: IAR/Polish Radio English Service/Radio ZET/Newsweek