Old routes, new journeys: Reshaping gender, nation and religion in European pilgrimage

Abstract

The radio station, in particular, is highly contested in Poland as well as in other countries and has received repeated criticism from the Vatican for interfering with politics. Outspoken defenders of the idea of a Christian Europe and conservative gender politics have included popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who made the so-called culture of death into an analogy for the Western secular liberal paradigm. The servants of the dark' are not further identified; however, there are indications that Radio Maryja sees supporters of the EU's liberal paradigm as among the fallen. Radio Maryja is a Catholic media power led by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, which distributes nationalist, anti-Semitic and homophobic messages via a national radio station. Indeed, the liberal legislation of the European Union, especially regarding abortion, is presented by Radio Maryja and other Catholic anti-abortion movements as a threat to the Polish identity.