Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi Crowned Polish Speech Champion
Longtime Vatican-based journalist Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi was awarded the title of speech champion at a competition held in Poland.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi, a longtime Vatican correspondent and author, has been named Poland's speech champion by public vote at the 26th Master of Polish Speech awards ceremony held in the Polish city of Ostrowiec.
Award Ceremony and Details
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi, who has long worked as a journalist and author in the Vatican, won this prestigious title at the awards ceremony of the 26th Master of Polish Speech Social Program held in the Polish city of Ostrowiec.
Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and Ostrowiec Mayor Artur Łakomiec also attended the awards ceremony, which was determined by public text message voting as part of a nationwide survey.
Purpose and Significance of the Award
The Master of Polish Speech Vox Populi award was launched in 2000 as a national initiative to promote the Polish language and culture.
Wolińska-Riedi, who joined the EWTN News staff in September 2024, stated that receiving this award is very meaningful in terms of appreciating the contributions of Poles living abroad.
Vatikan Yılları ve Gazetecilik Kariyeri
After completing her doctorate in Church studies from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Wolińska-Riedi lived and worked in Vatican City for more than two decades.
During her time in the Vatican, she served as a Polish correspondent in Italy for Telewizja Polska and also performed translations for the Roman Rota, the Church's highest appeals court.
Family Life and Reflections
Wolińska-Riedi, who also became a Vatican citizen through marriage, noted that she had the opportunity to form a close friendship with the Polish Pope John Paul II.
Touching upon the difficulties of maintaining a connection with her homeland while working in another language abroad, the journalist emphasized that her greatest pride is being the mother of two Polish-speaking daughters.