VATICAN CITY (AFP)---The Vatican has issued an uncommon explanatory note over a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the director of a Polish Catholic radio station accused of anti-Semitism.

The meeting Sunday with Radio Maryja’s controversial director Tadeusz Rydzyk, whom Benedict reprimanded last year, prompted Jewish associations to voice alarm and seek clarification.

"With regard to requests for clarification about the ’kissing of the hand’ received from Rev. Tadeusz Rydzyk ... this occurrence implies no change in the well-known position of the Holy See on relations between Catholics and Jews," the terse communique, issued Thursday,said.

Rydzyk was part of a delegation of Polish pilgrims when the two met at the pope’s summer residence in nearby Castelgandolfo at the end of the Sunday Angelus prayer.

Last year, Rydzyk fell foul of the Vatican over what were considered anti-Semitic broadcasts. Rome ordered Poland’s bishops to set up a watchdog body for the radio, but it apparently has had little impact and the Church has faced criticism for failing to bring Rydzyk under control.

Radio Maryja’s daily newspaper, Nasz Dziennik, revealed the meeting between the pope and Rydzyk in an article illustrated by photographs on Tuesday.

A Vatican source on Tuesday confirmed the meeting, saying that while at Castelgandolfo, Benedict "receives many people who ask to see him," adding: "Generally nothing is known (of these meetings) except when they themselves report them."

Nasz Dziennik said Benedict "thanked the station’s thousands of listeners for their prayers on his behalf and blessed Radio Maryja and its work," while the Vatican’s note on Thursday suggested that the encounter was limited to Rydzyk kissing the pope’s hand.

The European Jewish Congress said it was "shocked and astonished by the fact that Pope Benedict XVI has granted with a private audience and his blessing a man and an institution that have tarnished the image of the Polish Church." 

CRIF, the umbrella group of Jewish secular organisations in France,  said Thursday that its director, Richard Prasquier, was "deeply shocked" by the meeting, "during which the anti-Semitism of the Polish radio station Radio Maryja ... does not appear to have been discussed."

In New York, the Anti-Defamation League called on Pope Benedict XVI to publicly denounce what it called Father Rydzyk's "continued anti-Semitic statements."

Radio Maryja "has for many years been spreading caricatural anti-Jewish messages and stereotypes," the CRIF said in a statement.

The meeting means the broadcaster "is unfortunately tolerated by the Catholic leadership and hierarchy, despite protests within Polish society itself," the statement said, adding: "The action is totally incompatible with the climate of comprehension and friendly relations built between the Catholic Church and Jews for many years."

Influential radio

Based in the northern Polish city of Torun, Radio Maryja claims some three million listeners from among Poland’s mainly Catholic population of 38.2 million.

But it wields considerable political influence in Poland and has campaigned openly for the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, even though it has begun sniping at Poland’s conservative leaders for allegedly going soft.

The Radio Maryja media empire, which also includes a television station, mixes Catholic fundamentalist, Polish nationalist and anti-liberal ideologies.

In July, Rydzyk was caught up in a new dispute over comments slamming Polish President Lech Kaczynski for giving in to Jewish demands for compensation for property lost after the Holocaust in post-war Poland, and suggesting Jews wanted to strip Poland of billions of dollars.

The Israeli ambassador to Poland urged the government to condemn Rydzyk’s remarks.