EWTN Poland’s YouTube channel has been suspended for the second time in less than two years, according to Father Piotr Winiowski, general director of EWTN Poland.
The Catholic programming channel, which featured a live broadcast from the adoration chapel of the St. Maximilian Kolbe-founded Niepokalanów Monastery in Teresin, Poland, was abruptly removed from YouTube on October 22. Almost one million viewers tune in each month for what is considered the most popular televised eucharistic adoration in the world.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the chapel served as a spiritual lifeline for individuals who were unable to attend Mass. Aside from the adoration chapel, the channel’s programming is comparable to EWTN’s English-language programming. In addition to Catholic news, there are 4,500 videos of devotional content, films, lectures, and homilies.
According to Winiowski, the action reeked of censorship.
The priest stated in a statement to the media, “I am dismayed by the politics of YouTube, which was born in a country where freedom of speech and respect for different ideas is a criterion for the rise of prosperity and security of its residents.”
The first time this occurred, on April 10, 2021, the channel was suspended for “violating community guidelines.” The channel was restored after 24 hours and numerous customer complaints.
Winiowski and the EWTN Poland crew sought to have the channel reactivated after it occurred again last Saturday and were given unclear and inconsistent explanations for the closure.
At one point, they were informed that the channel had been suspended due to a “violation of community rules,” then that there had been a “takeover [by a third party] of a Google account that was sending SPAM,” and finally that the channel had been “taken over.”
The priest inquired, “What regulations of the YouTube community are broken by, for instance, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from Niepokalanów?”
“I respectfully request that all Catholic circles, particularly media circles, stand in solidarity with our TV EWTN Poland, spiritually support it, and express their discontent with the situation,” he wrote.
The channel was restored three and a half days later, after much prayer and several viewer complaints to YouTube’s parent company, Google. Winiowski was left in the dark as to why the channel had been turned off in the first place.
When asked if the corporation provided an explanation, he responded, “No.” Simply no. Never.”