Father Edward Staniek, a Parish priest in the southern city of Krakow, launched into an angry tirade at Pope Francis after the Pope called for Catholics to take in Muslim refugees because it is their Christian duty.
In a sermon on February 25 Father Staniek said
“I pray for the Pope in his wisdom to open his heart to the Holy Spirit, but if he does not, I pray for his quick departure to his Father’s house.
“I can always ask God for a happy death for him because a happy death is a great grace.”
Father Staniek added that there was no dialogue with Muslims and that the “doors to the diocese and parish are open only to believers in Jesus Christ.”
But after his speech, Krakow’s Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski said that he heard about the deporable comments with “great pain and regret”.
The archbishop said that he had discussed them face-to-face with Father Staniek and urged the Vatican to dismiss the comments, adding that the Krakow diocese was actually praying “with the best intentions” every day for Pope Francis.
The late Pope St. John Paul II was from Krakow.
Poland’s church remains attached to John Paul’s conservative stance, which largely differs from Pope Francis’ inclusive message.
A majority of Poland’s bishops see their mission as preserving the traditional Catholic values from the pressure of secularization.
The Polish government regards refugees as a security threat and has rejected EU calls for the country to accept refugees under a quota scheme.
In December, Beata Mazurek, spokeswoman for the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party said: “We don’t want to accept immigrants, we don’t want to accept Muslim migrants, as we care for the security of Poles.”