BBG Watch Commentary
A Digital Journal op-ed “A phony John Paul II love story distorted his real persona,” written by former Voice of America (VOA) Polish Service director Ted Lipien, includes audio of a rare VOA interview with Cardinal Karol Wojtyła during his visit to the United States in 1976, two years before he was elected pope.
“Internet-age journalism sensationalized and distorted what was an innocent but highly significant relationship between John Paul II and a Polish-American philosopher Dr. Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka,” Ted Lipien, who is also one of the founders and supporters of BBG Watch, explained in his op-ed.
The story was first presented by BBC Panorama program and picked up by nearly every major media outlet in the world, but not by the Voice of America, even though Dr. Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka for decades lived and lectured in the United States.
According to Lipien, who in 2008 published a book about Pope John Paul II and his response to feminism, BBC and most other media got the story completely wrong. He noted that the Washington Post article was one of the more balanced ones, but still distorted the Pope’s real persona.
READ MORE: Op-Ed: A phony John Paul II love story distorted his real persona, by Ted Lipien, Digital Journal, February 17, 2016