On Saturday, a meeting with Father Adam Boniecki was held at Piwnica Paryska. Father Boniecki spoke about his work at Tygodnik Powszechny. He said that nowadays it is difficult to convey valuable content to people. In the priest’s opinion, this requires the reader themselves to overcome inner resistance. Understanding something requires concentration and perseverance in reading. Father Boniecki stressed that writing about “inconvenient” matters does not bring financial profits. This is the case with Tygodnik Powszechny. “It is true that at times this can be discouraging, and there is the question of whether it is worth it at all,” said Father Boniecki. However, in the priest’s opinion, satisfaction comes from the fact that Tygodnik is still present as a partner in the most important dispute: the dispute between several people creating the magazine and the enormous organization that is Radio Maryja.
Another reason why, in the priest’s opinion, it is worth producing Tygodnik Powszechny is the respect in which the magazine is held by authorities. Many well-known and valuable people speak in the pages of Tygodnik, even though doing so brings them no financial benefits. Tygodnik shapes public opinion. This is evidenced by the May ranking of the most frequently cited weekly magazines, in which Tygodnik Powszechny came fourth. Father Boniecki stressed that readers’ reactions are extremely valuable. It is worth producing Tygodnik in order to hear that it helped someone in life or helped them make an important decision.
According to Father Boniecki, people should talk to one another— even with those who hold opposing views. We need to consider why someone’s opinion seemed so controversial to us, and what it was about that made us perceive it that way. “Let us not argue about opinions. You cannot argue about opinions. Opinions cannot be objectified,” said Father Boniecki. “An opinion is something personal of mine (...). Let us argue about everything that makes it easier to understand reality,” Father Boniecki added.
During Saturday’s meeting, Father Adam Boniecki also spoke about people’s search for their path in life. In the priest’s opinion, the recipe for happiness is a sense of peace and inner balance. Yet it remains a mystery why some people find a path in life that brings them happiness, while others struggle to find it throughout their lives.
The Marian priest and editor-in-chief of Tygodnik Powszechny was not afraid to address difficult subjects for the Polish Catholic Church. “Being a priest does not mean that one is the holiest or closest to God,” Father Boniecki said at the meeting. According to the priest, Church hierarchs often behave as if certain problems did not exist. But a problem does not disappear when it is ignored or silenced. Father Boniecki cited the case of Bishop Paetz, the problem of Radio Maryja and the issue of contraception as examples of unresolved problems.
The meeting at Piwnica Paryska lasted 2.5 hours. At the end, Father Boniecki signed Ignacy Nowakowski’s book “I Wanted to Be a Priest,” for which he wrote the introduction.
(MZ report)