The speaker of the Polish parliament, centrist-liberal politician Szymon Hołownia has quite rightly come under fire for acting disrespectfully during Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, April 26th.
Hołownia was seen constantly taking photos and selfies and livestreaming the event as though it were a spectacle.
In one photo, while other mourners walked upright, Hołownia leaned slightly backward, stretching out his arms to take photos with his smartphone over the heads of those around him.
His behaviour sparked a wave of online criticism, with one X user saying he had “embarrassed Poland” with his “crass behaviour.”
Radosław Piwowarczyk, a journalist said that “the second most important person in the country behaved worse than an Instagram influencer. Embarrassment is an understatement.”
Politicians from across the board, including members of the right-wing Confederation party and the leftist the New Left, criticised the parliamentary speaker for his stunt.
Instead of apologising, Hołownia attacked his critics and awkwardly tried to justify his action by saying that he had invited homeless people on the trip from Poland to Rome, and that “we’re praying, reflecting, documenting, and will remember this forever.”
