President of the Polish Bishops' Conference at the jubilee of the Opoka Foundation: Catholics should boldly open the doors of the media to Christ

„Electronic media are something that multiplies communication, and the Church could not pass by them indifferently,” emphasized the President of the Episcopate during the jubilee celebrations.

"Twenty-five years is a perfect opportunity to thank the Lord God and our Patrons - St. Joseph and St. Peter and St. Andrew, as a new edition of the Opoka website launched on November 30, 2021, the feast of St. Andrew," noted Father Marek Gancarczyk, President of the Opoka Foundation.

Bishop Tadeusz Wojda, Metropolitan of Gdansk and President of the Council of the Opoka Foundation noted that over these 25 years, many beautiful works have been accomplished. "The peak years are 2010's when Opoka was appreciated by other media. Nowadays we are in an attempt to expand Opoka's activities, through films and in other ways. We need to make sure that we are not institutions that only defend themselves from attacks, but that we are media that are ahead of the facts, that are sensitive to what is happening in the Church, in the world, in our homeland, and take up topics that are difficult and require a voice from the throne of the Church beforehand," he stressed.

Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Primate of Poland and member of the Opoka Foundation's Supervisory Board said in his speech that the Opoka Foundation brings together many people and many communities. "This is certainly a great gift that is associated with the Foundation and with the website, and with everything that has been developed around these media over the years," he said. "Opoka is a common work of the entire Church in Poland," he continued. Archbishop Polak added that "it can be a good, true image of the Church's joint work in the media world."

Fr. Prof. Jozef Kloch, a co-founder of the Opoka Foundation, presented its beginnings during the event, emphasizing that the Opoka Foundation is "the work of the laity and clergy." "I thank the President of the Polish Episcopate that Opoka was established," he noted. "We intended to do something and it was successful; we wanted to put the Church, together with the Catholic News Agency, on the path of digital communication," Fr. Kloch stressed.

The central point of the ceremony was the Mass presided over by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, President of the Polish Bishops' Conference, celebrated in the Chapel of St. John Paul II at the Episcopate Secretariat. In his homily, the President of the Polish Bishops' Conference recalled that the Opoka Foundation "grew out of the story of human communication as the Church understands it."

"The possibility of speaking to such a wide audience did not exist even in the most imaginative dreams of those who preached the Gospel before us. Thus, Catholics should boldly open the doors of the media to Christ so that the Good News can be proclaimed on the rooftops of the whole world," Archbishop Gądecki said in his homily.

The President of the Episcopate added that "the Church's practice of broadcasting should be exemplary in this regard, conveying the highest standards of truthfulness, reliability, sensitivity to human rights and other principles and norms. Prudence is also necessary to see clearly the potential for good and evil in this medium, and to respond creatively to its challenges and opportunities."

The Opoka Foundation was established by the Polish Bishops' Conference on June 5, 1998, at the 295th PlenaryAssembly of the Polish Bishops' Conference. The main task of the Foundation was to help the Catholic Church in Poland build a system for the electronic exchange of information. In July 1998, the Foundation's first server, named Petrus, began operation. In turn, in March 1999, the website of the Opoka.org.pl service was officially presented. Between 1999 and 2006, Opoka.org.pl grew to become a portal and was among the one hundred most popular websites in Poland.

The systematic work of the editors of the Opoka.org.pl portal led to the collection of a great resource of texts on theology, Church life and culture, society, and economy. For more than 20 years of its existence, the Foundation has also carried out a considerable number of religious and social activities.

Opoka.org.pl /Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference

Translated by Sr. Amata Nowaszewska / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference