KRAKOW, Poland - The mood is of quiet contemplation as the faithful leave the Lagiewniki sanctuary in the southern Polish city of Krakow on a cold autumn afternoon.
But a question about Poland's upcoming election quickly stirs passions outside the church, in a country that is more devoutly Catholic than most in Europe and where the role of priests in politics has become part of the election debate.
Churchgoers generally favour the socially conservative ruling Kaczynski twins and helped bring them to power in 2005. That support is in no doubt ahead of the Oct. 21 election.
But there is disagreement over the part played by priests and in particular the powerful media empire of right-wing Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, which swung behind the Kaczynskis at the last election.
"That is going a little bit too far," says Maria Biskup outside the Lagiewniki sanctuary, who nonetheless affirms her support for the Kaczynskis.
"The church should not be openly doing this," she says, prompting ill-tempered reactions from elderly men and women nearby.
"Rydzyk is good and the others are liars," one man shouts. "Yes, they are liars and they hate the church," adds someone else.
Rydzyk's Radio Maryja, his television station and newspaper -- branded xenophobic and anti-Semitic by detractors -- called on voters at the last election to prevent "the devil's force from taking over the country".
ANTI-OPPOSITION
Listen to Radio Maryja and you can hear preaching against the evils of the European Union, world Jewish lobbies and also the Kaczynskis' main opponents -- the centre-right and liberal Civic Platform.
The Civic Platform is neck-and-neck in opinion polls with the Law and Justice party of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is battling for re-election, and his brother Lech, the president.
The support of Rydzyk and other priests could be just as crucial in this election.
