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Pope Scraps Official Discourse to Polish Bishops in Favor of Private Meeting by ZENIT Staff
From Vatican Radio:
Pope Francis has decided to scrap a previously scheduled official discourse to Polish bishops on the first day of his apostolic journey to Poland, in favour of a private encounter with them during which the Pope and the bishops will be able to listen to each other and converse in total freedom.
Speaking to Vatican Radio, Father Federico Lombardi SJ, Director of the Holy See Press Office, explained that the Pope wants the occasion to be as spontaneous and authentic as possible: a moment in which the bishops and the Pope will be at ease and free to exchange opinions and ask questions.
Lombardi pointed out that in fact there have been no real changes to the schedule; rather, he said, the Pope has made it clear that the formula he prefers in these occasions – and it is the one he has most often resorted to during his apostolic journeys – is that of a “familiar encounter and of dialogue”.
Thus, Lombardi said, Pope Francis has no intention of addressing the bishops with a grand speech: he wants to talk to them, listen to what they have to say and possibly answer the questions they will be asking in a climate of absolute serenity.
This is the reason, he explained, it has been decided there will be no live television broadcast of the event which will be conducted in a fraternal atmosphere.
Lombardi also recalled that the Pope made exactly the same choice during his visits to the United States, to Mexico, to the African and Latin American countries he visited, when he was in Cuba and even when speaking to his brothers of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
Finally, Lombardi pointed out: “it is not that he is afraid of the media; that we know for sure!” We can all see how available he is to speak to journalists, even on the airplane…
So, Lombardi concluded, it’s a question of being very attentive to the occasion: “when he wants a climate of total familiarity, when he wants to make sure people are at ease, he prefers to meet with them in the absence of the media. It’s the same, he pointed out, at morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta.
Francis Has Taken Church’s Effort to Stop Human Trafficking to ‘Another Level’ by ZENIT Staff
Experts called for greater awareness and stronger policies to combat the roots of human trafficking among children and youth at a July 13 event at the UN sponsored by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See in collaboration with the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons, the Salesians Missions, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and ECPAT-USA.
Entitled Eliminating the Trafficking of Children and Youth, it discussed the best methods to combat the growing scourge of children and youth who are trafficked for sex or work.
“This conference seeks to make real the faces of the nearly two million children and youth who are presently being trafficked and speak about what’s working, what’s not working, and what needs to be done to free them, help them recover, and prevent other young people from suffering as they have,” Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See Mission to the UN, noted in his opening remarks.
The Catholic Church, he said, has long fought against human trafficking in its teaching and in its work on the ground.
“The Second Vatican Council, St. John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI all spoke out passionately and forcefully against the infamy of human trafficking and the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture that encourages this systematic exploitation of human dignity and rights,” Archbishop Auza said, but he stated that Pope Francis has taken the Church’s action and advocacy “to another level,” denouncing it repeatedly in his encyclicals and exhortations, in speeches and peace letters, in promoting numerous conferences in the Vatican and more.
“While human trafficking always exploits the vulnerable, the trafficking of children and youth exploits those most vulnerable of all,” Auza said.
Yu Ping Chan, Program Management Officer of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said human trafficking takes many forms including sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. She said the UNODC’s 2015 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons showed that one in three known victims of human trafficking are children, with women and girls accounting for 70 percent of all trafficking victims worldwide.
Chan describes the programs and departments the UN has established to combat trafficking but said there must be more effective and robust use of the tools.
Sheila McClain was subjected to sexual abuse and trafficking at the hands of her own mother as a child and now helps those who have endured similar experiences as the Director of Survivor Services for End Slavery Tennessee. She said factors such as poverty, the addiction she acquired as a result of being trafficked, as well as lack of life skills, made leaving her exploiters difficult.
“We all have the stories of being duct taped, tied up and put in trunks but that is not who I am,” she said. “I am more than my story.”
Mercy Sister Angela Reed from the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans emphasized the importance of gathering each woman’s personal narrative to find the causes and solutions of the issue. She said demand is the main cause of trafficking, as well as the victims’ lack of basic needs including housing, food and education, which makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation. She shared the stories of young girls who experienced severe social stigmatization in their communities after being trafficked, which fed into a deeper cycle of exploitation.
Kevin Cassidy of the International Labour Organization (ILO) focused on the phenomenon of trafficking children for labor, noting the roles policy makers and the private sector have in eliminating exploitation by using consumer power and making appropriate business choices, specifically in focusing on slavery-proof supply chains.
“People are pushed to the limit because we have not been smart enough to put into place the policies to assist them,” he said. “We support decent work. When you drive down the wages, you are putting people at risk.”
Jayne Bigelsen, Director of Anti-Human Trafficking Initiatives at the Covenant House homeless shelter in New York City, said that an overwhelming number of homeless youth are susceptible to trafficking since they are unlikely to have family looking for them.
She also noted the trend among homeless youth of selling their bodies in exchange for a place to stay and other basic needs, which traffickers and pimps exploit.
Carol Smolenski, who works to combat child trafficking tourism and other means of child abuse through ECPAT-USA, said the Internet creates a platform for traffickers to lure child victims as well as connect with consumers seeking child pornography and prostitution.
Eighty percent of children depicted in materials seized by police are pre-pubescent, she noted, with a growing number of infants represented.
“There is a huge growth in younger and younger kids being raped and having pictures and videos of it shared on the Internet,” Smolenski said. “The good news is there is mobilization by governments around the world to do something about it,” she added, noting global online databases and initiatives that aid in the identification and rescue of exploited children.
The event can be watched in its entirety on UN Web TV.
Archbishop Auza’s address is here: https://holyseemission.org/contents//statements/57882458c8f61.php
Conference to Highlight Gifts of African Immigrant Families in Church in US by ZENIT Staff
The Third African National Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in Washington, August 5-7,will highlight the gifts, contributions, challenges and evangelization opportunities of African immigrant families in the Catholic Church in the United States.
The gathering brings together African Catholic ministry leaders from around the country, and takes place every five years. This year’s theme is “Responding to the New Evangelization: The African Catholic Family, A Gift to the Church in America.”
Highlights of the three-day event include a keynote address by Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on African American Affairs.
A special workshop on the Zairean Rite, an African Catholic rite, will be directed by Cardinal Laurent Mosengwo Pasinya of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa, Congo. The workshop will be followed by a practical demonstration of the rite during Saturday’s liturgical celebration presided by Cardinal Mosengwo. The closing Mass will be presided by Bishop Joseph N. Perry, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, and a member of the USCCB Subcommittee on African American Affairs. Sessions will address issues such as youth and young adults, living among different cultures, and an awards ceremony for the best youth essay.
The Third African National Eucharistic Congress will be held at Catholic University of America, Pryzbyla Hall. The event is organized by the USCCB’s Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in collaboration with the National Association of African Catholics in the United States (NAACUS), and the African Conference of Catholic Clergy and Religious in the United States (ACCCRUS).
More information, including registration, schedule and speakers, can be found at: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/cultural-diversity/pastoral-care-of-migrants-refugees-and-travelers/ethnic-ministries/african-national-eucharistic-congress.cfm
Bishop Named for Kidapawan, Philippines by ZENIT Staff
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop José Colin Mendoza Bagaforo, auxiliary of Cotabato in the Philippines, as bishop of Kidapawan.
The Diocese of Kidapawan has a population of close to 1 million, with about half of them being Catholic. They are served by some 35 priests and 50 religious.
José Colin Mendoza Bagaforo was born in Cotabato in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1980. He was appointed the auxiliary bishop of his home diocese in 2006.
Pope Francis also accepted the resignation presented by Archbishop Tomé Makhweliha, S.C.I., from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Nampula in Mozambique, and appointed Bishop Ernesto Maguengue, auxiliary of the same archdiocese, as apostolic administrator “sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of the same metropolitan see.
Refugees and Poland: an Overview by ZENIT Staff
The Rev. Fr. Pawel Rytel-Andrianik, spokesman for the Polish Episcopal Conference, recently reported on the acceptance of refugees in Poland in the context of the current migratory crisis affecting Europe. The Holy Father will visit Poland this coming 27 July on the occasion of World Youth Day.
The following is a brief summary of Fr. Rytel-Andrianik’s report.
Poland is not located on the road of the main migratory flows in Europe. There are no direct connections with the principal migratory routes towards Europe (eastern, central and western Mediterranean) that pass through Polish territory. There exists the so-called eastern European route that is not very active, and has a rather local impact. In 2015 12,325 requests for asylum were presented in Poland. The majority of requests were made by citizens of the Russian Federation (Chechens) – 7989, Ukraine – 2305, and other countries such as Georgia – 394, Syria – 295, and Armenia – 195. The problems are not comparable to those experienced in the majority of European Union member states.
In the first trimester of 2016, 2627 requests for asylum were presented. Aside from the main nationalities indicated above, it is worth noting requests on the part of citizens from Turkey (Kurds) and Tajikistan (around 300).
Poland is an ethnically homogeneous country. The phenomenon of immigration in general (and of refugees and asylum seekers in general) is new, different, and strange to the average Polish person. For this reason, even through the official statistics relating to foreign citizens legally resident in Poland show that they make up just 0.4 per cent of the population as a whole, great fears exist. The reason for this may be found in the lack of public debate, in the complicated content of the law and migration procedures and in insufficient involvement by organs of public governance, non-governmental organisations and so on. There is no systematic programme for teaching the Polish people about diversity on the basis of religion, race, culture, etc., other than a number of programmes at local-level or focused on specific target groups, such as border police.
Thanks to the generosity of Polish Catholics it has been possible to help refugees from Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Polish bishops, from 2009, have organised collections in their dioceses in aid of refugees, which are available not only to Christians. Gratitude is owed to Catholics in Poland for having raised, in 2014 alone, more than 5 million zloty (1.2 million Euros) for refugees. Caritas in Poland currently assists more than 3000 people annually, from Africa, Eastern Europe and elsewhere.
Shortly after the appeal launched by Pope Francis during the Angelus of6 September, urging each parish, convent and shrine in Europe to welcome a family of refugees during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Presidency of the Polish Episcopal Conference wrote : “The Catholic Church in Poland, called to lend support to other people in a special way during the Year of Mercy, will do everything within her power to assist refugees in their dramatic situation”, and entrusted to Caritas Polska the responsibility for organising and coordinating initiatives relating to aid for refugees at diocesan level through the diocesan Caritas, and recalled the responsibility of national authorities for guaranteeing controls, safety, and basic services for refugees.
On 30 June 2016, at the seat of the Polish Episcopal Conference, a Message to the Christian Churches in Poland, with regard to the solution of the problem of migrants, was signed.
We must not lose sight of the main reason for the current migratory crisis, that is, wars in the Middle East and in Africa. From this there arises the need to pray for peace, to continue efforts at mediation and to appeal tirelessly to the conscience of governors. Many people have remained in their own countries, and there they await the arrival of aid directly in the afflicted regions. At the same time we must take care of those who have decided to leave the land of their ancestors. We ask the faithful of our Churches to pray and give assistance to those in need. We cannot abandon the search for solutions to the current crisis.
South Sudan: ‘The Worst Is Still to Come’ by ZENIT Staff
By Clare Creegan
A project partner of Aid to the Church in Need has warned that the upsurge of fighting in South Sudan will see the humanitarian crisis affecting millions of civilians worsening.One of the Catholic charity’s South Sudanese project partners, who cannot be named for security reasons, described how renewed violence in Juba has caused immense suffering and increased insecurity amongst its people.
Referring to calls from the governments of neighbouring countries Uganda and Kenya for their citizens to leave South Sudan, he said: “The way the various governments all over the world are panicking and acting shows that they fear that something terrible is still to happen. One can even hear that ‘the worst is still to come!’”
The religious Brother also described how the South Sudanese people were prohibited from leaving the country and were suffering from food shortages – but thanked ACN for their solidarity.
He said: “Let’s pray that the nightmare in Juba and all around the country is soon coming to an end.
“People just cannot stand this hell any longer. I am seeing people leaving Juba in big numbers, mostly to Uganda, whenever they find a possibility and when they can afford it.”
Through the church, 1,385 registered families – which numbered 7,183 displaced people – were able to receive support at St Paul’s Seminary campus in Juba.
The renewed fighting is a major setback for South Sudan’s peace process which had been troubled by ceasefire violations and localised outbreaks of violence since the peace agreement signed by rival leaders President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar in August 2015.
Tensions came to a head on July 7, following an attack in Juba close to where the President and Vice President were meeting.
Continued fighting is reported to have left more than 300 dead and the death toll is expected to rise as fears of a return to civil war increase.
Aid to the Church in Need is supporting ongoing projects in South Sudan including aid to help build a presbytery for the newly established parish in Barsherki in the Diocese of Wau.
In 2015 the charity also gave more than $950,000 to fund the Church’s pastoral work with refugees in South Sudan.
—
Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA); www.acnuk.org (UK); www.aidtochurch.org (AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL); www.acn-aed-ca.org (CAN)www.acnmalta.org (Malta)
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko: Sacrament of Nonviolence at the Heart of Martyred Polish Priest’s Life by Thomas Rosica
The Eucharist sums up all the teaching, passion and death of Jesus. The Eucharist, is truly the sacrament of nonviolence. The way of Jesus to conquer evil and violence must be the Christian way: the way of nonviolence, of love and forgiveness. The nonviolent way of Jesus is historically at the heart of his teaching, and at the same time at the heart of his passion and death.
This Eucharistic reality was lived out in the life of a young Polish priest, Fr Jerzy Popieluszko (1947-1984) who was beatified as a martyr on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 6, 2010, in Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square. Jerzy Popieluszko was born on September 14, 1947 in the village of Okopy in Eastern Poland. He was from a strong Roman Catholic family. After secondary school, Jerzy entered the seminary in Warsaw, rather than the local seminary in Bialystok. His training was interrupted by two years of military service, during which he was beaten several times for living his Christian faith.
After ordination, the young priest, who never really enjoyed good health, held several appointments before his final appointment to the parish of St. Stanislas Kostka in Warsaw. He worked part-time in the parish, which enabled him to work as well with medical personnel. As a result of his close work with health care personnel, he was asked to organize the medical teams during two of Pope John Paul II’s nine visits to Poland in 1979 and Warsaw in 1983.
August 1980 saw the beginning of the Solidarity trade union in Poland. Workers from the Warsaw steel plant, who were on strike in support of the shipyards on the Baltic Sea, requested a priest to say Mass for them. The lot fell to Fr Jerzy. He stayed with the workers night and day. Solidarity represented for him a vision that he had first learnt from St Maximilian Kolbe: that of spiritual freedom amidst physical enslavement. It was this vision of the truth about the vocation of every man and woman, which Fr Jerzy promoted amongst the workers by his presence.
On December 13, 1981, the communist authorities imposed martial law, arresting many Solidarity activists and launching a program of harassment and retaliation against others. Many who had been on strike lost their jobs, and so their ability to support their families; others were beaten up on the streets and left for dead. Fr. Popieluszko became an important focus in a welfare program to support families affected by martial law.
He regularly attended the trials of Solidarity activists, sitting prominently in court with their families so that the prisoners could see that they were not forgotten. It was in the courtroom that he had the idea for a monthly Mass for the Country, to be celebrated for all the imprisoned and their families. It was not a political demonstration — Fr. Popieluszko specifically asked his congregation not to display banners or chant slogans. His Masses for the Fatherland became well known not only in Warsaw but throughout Poland, often attracting 15,000 to 20,000 people. Fr. Jerzy insisted that change should be brought about peacefully; the sign of peace was one of the most poignant moments of each Mass for the Country.
Excerpts from Fr. Popieluszko’s homilies:
“The position of the Church will always be the same as the position of the people…and when the people are persecuted then the Church shares in their suffering.”
“Solidarity is a constant concern for our country, upholding its internal freedom even in conditions of enslavement. It means that we must overcome fear, upholding our dignity as children of God and courageously bearing witness to what we believe, what we hold in our hearts.”
Fr. Popieluszko was neither a social nor a political activist, but a Catholic priest faithful to the Gospel. He wasn’t a forceful speaker, but someone of deep conviction and integrity. His sanctity lay in fundamental righteousness that gave people hope even in horrendous situations. He knew that all totalitarian systems are based on terror and intimidation. The Communists saw him as an enemy because he freed people from fear of the system. He exposed the hypocrisy of the Communist regime and he taught believers how to confront totalitarianism. How often Jerzy made St. Paul’s words his own in his preaching: “Fight evil with good”.
His message was not just for Poland but for all time: when any government tries to impose untruths, when it distorts history, when it crushes attempts to live by ordinary moral values, then we must speak out. We must conquer hatred with love, lies with truth, anger and fear with courage and hope. This applied in Poland under Communism, but it applies anywhere, at any time. And this applies when such untruths are imposed on children in schools, or public figures are bullied into silence on the subject, or if the Church is so bullied.
Fr. Jerzy never suggested that “freedom” in the abstract is an absolute. What matters most is truth. We are not free to kill, maim, or steal. Any civilization or culture worthy of the name imposes all sorts of restraints on its citizens. But truth is absolute and does not need to be imposed, because it imposes itself. A government that tries to impose an untruth finds that it needs, with increasing pressure, to keep finding ways to prevent the truth from emerging, from pouring out through the cracks in the blocks it keeps trying to push into place.
On October 19, 1984, the young priest was kidnapped by security agents on his way back to Warsaw after a visit to a parish in the neighboring town of Bydgoszcz. He was savagely beaten until he lost consciousness, and his body was tied up in such a way that he would strangle himself by moving. His weighted body was then thrown into a deep reservoir. His killers carried out their task with unprecedented brutality, which shows their hatred of the faith that the priest embodied. Jerzy’s driver, who managed to escape, told what had happened to the press. On October 30, Popieluszko’s bound and gagged body was found in the freezing waters of a reservoir near Wloclawek. Fr Jerzy’s brutal murder was widely believed to have hastened the collapse of communist rule in Poland.
Fr. Jerzy’s funeral was a massive public demonstration with more than 500,000 people in attendance. Some say the number was as high as one million people. Official delegations of Solidarity appeared from throughout the whole country for the first time since the imposition of martial law. He was buried in the front yard of his parish church of St. Stanislaw Kostka, and since that day, 20 million people have visited his tomb.
A legacy of courage and faith
Over the past 30 years, I have been privileged to pray several times at his grave in the Warsaw working suburb, and to witness the extraordinary effect that this young priest has had on so many young people. He promoted respect for human rights, for the rights of workers and the dignity of persons, all in the light of the Gospel. He practiced, for Poland and for the whole world, the virtues of courage, of fidelity to God, to the Cross of Christ and the Gospel, love of God and of the homeland. He represented patriotism in the Christian sense, as a cultural and social virtue. He was deeply devoted to the Eucharist. More than 80 streets and squares in Poland have been named after Fr Jerzy. Hundreds of statues and memorial plaques have been unveiled to him; some 18,000 schools, charities, youth groups and discussion clubs have been named after him.
This martyr’s life was broken and shared with the multitudes. The blood of his martyrdom has become the seed of faith for his homeland and for the Church. At a time when the priesthood and the Church have suffered much because of the past “sins of the fathers”, the life and death of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko remind us what the priesthood and the Church are all about. Jerzy’s death serves as testimony to the struggle for freedom, basic rights, and human dignity. In one of the earliest addresses after his election to the See of Rome, Pope John Paul II said: The truth we owe to man is, first and foremost, a truth about man. As witnesses of Jesus Christ we are heralds, spokesmen and servants of this truth… We cannot forget it or betray it.
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko was a gentle priest who always spoke about forgiveness and love, never violence, never anger. He was the hero of an oppressed nation, and is today the authentic vision of priesthood for a new generation of Poles. He is also, and this is what challenged me, a hero to all of us in the West who thought that truth and freedom were easy things to cherish, and now need to draw on his courage and example. Fr. Jerzy provides a model for us, calling us to strive that what we say and do outwardly should always agree with our inward conscience.
Fr. Jerzy’s Litany to Our Lady of Czestochowa – May 1982
Mother of those who place their hope in Solidarity, pray for us.
Mother of those who are deceived, pray for us.
Mother of those who are betrayed, pray for us.
Mother of those who are arrested in the night, pray for us.
Mother of those who are imprisoned, pray for us.
Mother of those who suffer from the cold, pray for us.
Mother of those who have been frightened, pray for us.
Mother of those who were subjected to interrogations, pray for us.
Mother of those innocents who have been condemned, pray for us.
Mother of those who speak the truth, pray for us.
Mother of those who cannot be corrupted, pray for us.
Mother of those who resist, pray for us.
Mother of orphans, pray for us.
Mother of those who have been molested because they wore your image, pray for us.
Mother of those who are forced to sign declarations contrary to their conscience, pray for us.
Mother of mothers who weep, pray for us.
Mother of fathers who have been so deeply saddened, pray for us.
Mother of suffering Poland, pray for us.
Mother of always faithful Poland, pray for us.
We beg you, O mother in whom resides the hope of millions of people, grant us to live in liberty and in truth, in fidelity to you and to your Son. Amen.
Sept. 9 to Be Day of Prayer for Peace in US Communities by ZENIT Staff
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko: Sacrament of Nonviolence at the Heart of Martyred Polish Priest’s Life by Thomas Rosica
The Eucharist sums up all the teaching, passion and death of Jesus. The Eucharist, is truly the sacrament of nonviolence. The way of Jesus to conquer evil and violence must be the Christian way: the way of nonviolence, of love and forgiveness. The nonviolent way of Jesus is historically at the heart of his teaching, and at the same time at the heart of his passion and death.
This Eucharistic reality was lived out in the life of a young Polish priest, Fr Jerzy Popieluszko (1947-1984) who was beatified as a martyr on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 6, 2010, in Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square. Jerzy Popieluszko was born on September 14, 1947 in the village of Okopy in Eastern Poland. He was from a strong Roman Catholic family. After secondary school, Jerzy entered the seminary in Warsaw, rather than the local seminary in Bialystok. His training was interrupted by two years of military service, during which he was beaten several times for living his Christian faith.
After ordination, the young priest, who never really enjoyed good health, held several appointments before his final appointment to the parish of St. Stanislas Kostka in Warsaw. He worked part-time in the parish, which enabled him to work as well with medical personnel. As a result of his close work with health care personnel, he was asked to organize the medical teams during two of Pope John Paul II’s nine visits to Poland in 1979 and Warsaw in 1983.
August 1980 saw the beginning of the Solidarity trade union in Poland. Workers from the Warsaw steel plant, who were on strike in support of the shipyards on the Baltic Sea, requested a priest to say Mass for them. The lot fell to Fr Jerzy. He stayed with the workers night and day. Solidarity represented for him a vision that he had first learnt from St Maximilian Kolbe: that of spiritual freedom amidst physical enslavement. It was this vision of the truth about the vocation of every man and woman, which Fr Jerzy promoted amongst the workers by his presence.
On December 13, 1981, the communist authorities imposed martial law, arresting many Solidarity activists and launching a program of harassment and retaliation against others. Many who had been on strike lost their jobs, and so their ability to support their families; others were beaten up on the streets and left for dead. Fr. Popieluszko became an important focus in a welfare program to support families affected by martial law.
He regularly attended the trials of Solidarity activists, sitting prominently in court with their families so that the prisoners could see that they were not forgotten. It was in the courtroom that he had the idea for a monthly Mass for the Country, to be celebrated for all the imprisoned and their families. It was not a political demonstration — Fr. Popieluszko specifically asked his congregation not to display banners or chant slogans. His Masses for the Fatherland became well known not only in Warsaw but throughout Poland, often attracting 15,000 to 20,000 people. Fr. Jerzy insisted that change should be brought about peacefully; the sign of peace was one of the most poignant moments of each Mass for the Country.
Excerpts from Fr. Popieluszko’s homilies:
“The position of the Church will always be the same as the position of the people…and when the people are persecuted then the Church shares in their suffering.”
“Solidarity is a constant concern for our country, upholding its internal freedom even in conditions of enslavement. It means that we must overcome fear, upholding our dignity as children of God and courageously bearing witness to what we believe, what we hold in our hearts.”
Fr. Popieluszko was neither a social nor a political activist, but a Catholic priest faithful to the Gospel. He wasn’t a forceful speaker, but someone of deep conviction and integrity. His sanctity lay in fundamental righteousness that gave people hope even in horrendous situations. He knew that all totalitarian systems are based on terror and intimidation. The Communists saw him as an enemy because he freed people from fear of the system. He exposed the hypocrisy of the Communist regime and he taught believers how to confront totalitarianism. How often Jerzy made St. Paul’s words his own in his preaching: “Fight evil with good”.
His message was not just for Poland but for all time: when any government tries to impose untruths, when it distorts history, when it crushes attempts to live by ordinary moral values, then we must speak out. We must conquer hatred with love, lies with truth, anger and fear with courage and hope. This applied in Poland under Communism, but it applies anywhere, at any time. And this applies when such untruths are imposed on children in schools, or public figures are bullied into silence on the subject, or if the Church is so bullied.
Fr. Jerzy never suggested that “freedom” in the abstract is an absolute. What matters most is truth. We are not free to kill, maim, or steal. Any civilization or culture worthy of the name imposes all sorts of restraints on its citizens. But truth is absolute and does not need to be imposed, because it imposes itself. A government that tries to impose an untruth finds that it needs, with increasing pressure, to keep finding ways to prevent the truth from emerging, from pouring out through the cracks in the blocks it keeps trying to push into place.
On October 19, 1984, the young priest was kidnapped by security agents on his way back to Warsaw after a visit to a parish in the neighboring town of Bydgoszcz. He was savagely beaten until he lost consciousness, and his body was tied up in such a way that he would strangle himself by moving. His weighted body was then thrown into a deep reservoir. His killers carried out their task with unprecedented brutality, which shows their hatred of the faith that the priest embodied. Jerzy’s driver, who managed to escape, told what had happened to the press. On October 30, Popieluszko’s bound and gagged body was found in the freezing waters of a reservoir near Wloclawek. Fr Jerzy’s brutal murder was widely believed to have hastened the collapse of communist rule in Poland.
Fr. Jerzy’s funeral was a massive public demonstration with more than 500,000 people in attendance. Some say the number was as high as one million people. Official delegations of Solidarity appeared from throughout the whole country for the first time since the imposition of martial law. He was buried in the front yard of his parish church of St. Stanislaw Kostka, and since that day, 20 million people have visited his tomb.
A legacy of courage and faith
Over the past 30 years, I have been privileged to pray several times at his grave in the Warsaw working suburb, and to witness the extraordinary effect that this young priest has had on so many young people. He promoted respect for human rights, for the rights of workers and the dignity of persons, all in the light of the Gospel. He practiced, for Poland and for the whole world, the virtues of courage, of fidelity to God, to the Cross of Christ and the Gospel, love of God and of the homeland. He represented patriotism in the Christian sense, as a cultural and social virtue. He was deeply devoted to the Eucharist. More than 80 streets and squares in Poland have been named after Fr Jerzy. Hundreds of statues and memorial plaques have been unveiled to him; some 18,000 schools, charities, youth groups and discussion clubs have been named after him.
This martyr’s life was broken and shared with the multitudes. The blood of his martyrdom has become the seed of faith for his homeland and for the Church. At a time when the priesthood and the Church have suffered much because of the past “sins of the fathers”, the life and death of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko remind us what the priesthood and the Church are all about. Jerzy’s death serves as testimony to the struggle for freedom, basic rights, and human dignity. In one of the earliest addresses after his election to the See of Rome, Pope John Paul II said: The truth we owe to man is, first and foremost, a truth about man. As witnesses of Jesus Christ we are heralds, spokesmen and servants of this truth… We cannot forget it or betray it.
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko was a gentle priest who always spoke about forgiveness and love, never violence, never anger. He was the hero of an oppressed nation, and is today the authentic vision of priesthood for a new generation of Poles. He is also, and this is what challenged me, a hero to all of us in the West who thought that truth and freedom were easy things to cherish, and now need to draw on his courage and example. Fr. Jerzy provides a model for us, calling us to strive that what we say and do outwardly should always agree with our inward conscience.
Fr. Jerzy’s Litany to Our Lady of Czestochowa – May 1982
Mother of those who place their hope in Solidarity, pray for us.
Mother of those who are deceived, pray for us.
Mother of those who are betrayed, pray for us.
Mother of those who are arrested in the night, pray for us.
Mother of those who are imprisoned, pray for us.
Mother of those who suffer from the cold, pray for us.
Mother of those who have been frightened, pray for us.
Mother of those who were subjected to interrogations, pray for us.
Mother of those innocents who have been condemned, pray for us.
Mother of those who speak the truth, pray for us.
Mother of those who cannot be corrupted, pray for us.
Mother of those who resist, pray for us.
Mother of orphans, pray for us.
Mother of those who have been molested because they wore your image, pray for us.
Mother of those who are forced to sign declarations contrary to their conscience, pray for us.
Mother of mothers who weep, pray for us.
Mother of fathers who have been so deeply saddened, pray for us.
Mother of suffering Poland, pray for us.
Mother of always faithful Poland, pray for us.
We beg you, O mother in whom resides the hope of millions of people, grant us to live in liberty and in truth, in fidelity to you and to your Son. Amen.
Sept. 9 to Be Day of Prayer for Peace in US Communities by ZENIT Staff
In light of recent incidents of violence and racial tension in communities across the United States, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has invited all dioceses across the country to unite in a Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities. He has also appointed a special task force to support bishops in marking that Day of Prayer, and more broadly, in promoting peace and healing during this time of great strain on civil society.
On July 8, in his initial and immediate response to the racially-related shootings in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis and Dallas, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, noted the need to look at ways the Catholic Church can walk with and help these suffering communities. The initiatives announced today begin to address that need.
“I have stressed the need to look toward additional ways of nurturing an open, honest and civil dialogue on issues of race relations, restorative justice, mental health, economic opportunity, and addressing the question of pervasive gun violence,” Archbishop Kurtz said. “The Day of Prayer and special Task Force will help us advance in that direction. By stepping forward to embrace the suffering, through unified, concrete action animated by the love of Christ, we hope to nurture peace and build bridges of communication and mutual aid in our own communities.”
The Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities will be celebrated on the feast of St. Peter Claver, September 9, and will serve as a focal point for the work of the task force.
The purpose of the Task Force is to help bishops engage the challenging problems directly, by various means: gathering and disseminating supportive resources and “best practices”; actively listening to the concerns of members in troubled communities and law enforcement; and building strong relationships to help prevent and resolve conflicts. The Task Force will conclude its work with a report on its activities and recommendations for future work to the November General Assembly.
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta, former USCCB president, will chair the task force.
“I am honored to lead this Task Force which will assist my brother bishops, individually and as a group, to accompany suffering communities on the path toward peace and reconciliation,” said Archbishop Gregory. “We are one body in Christ, so we must walk with our brothers and sisters and renew our commitment to promote healing. The suffering is not somewhere else, or someone else’s; it is our own, in our very dioceses.”
Other members are: Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Social Development; Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee for African American Affairs; Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, Bishop Emeritus of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, former chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on the Church in Africa, member of the USCCB Subcommittee for African American Affairs, and member of the board of the National Black Catholic Congress; and Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).
The Task Force will also have numerous bishop consultants, including USCCB vice president Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, as well as bishops whose jurisdictions have experienced extreme gun violence, or who otherwise bring special insight or experience on related questions. An equal or smaller number of lay consultants with relevant expertise will be appointed soon thereafter.
Innovative Media Inc.
30 Mansell Road Suite 103
Roswell, Georgia 30076, United States
--------------------
On July 8, in his initial and immediate response to the racially-related shootings in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis and Dallas, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, noted the need to look at ways the Catholic Church can walk with and help these suffering communities. The initiatives announced today begin to address that need.
“I have stressed the need to look toward additional ways of nurturing an open, honest and civil dialogue on issues of race relations, restorative justice, mental health, economic opportunity, and addressing the question of pervasive gun violence,” Archbishop Kurtz said. “The Day of Prayer and special Task Force will help us advance in that direction. By stepping forward to embrace the suffering, through unified, concrete action animated by the love of Christ, we hope to nurture peace and build bridges of communication and mutual aid in our own communities.”
The Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities will be celebrated on the feast of St. Peter Claver, September 9, and will serve as a focal point for the work of the task force.
The purpose of the Task Force is to help bishops engage the challenging problems directly, by various means: gathering and disseminating supportive resources and “best practices”; actively listening to the concerns of members in troubled communities and law enforcement; and building strong relationships to help prevent and resolve conflicts. The Task Force will conclude its work with a report on its activities and recommendations for future work to the November General Assembly.
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta, former USCCB president, will chair the task force.
“I am honored to lead this Task Force which will assist my brother bishops, individually and as a group, to accompany suffering communities on the path toward peace and reconciliation,” said Archbishop Gregory. “We are one body in Christ, so we must walk with our brothers and sisters and renew our commitment to promote healing. The suffering is not somewhere else, or someone else’s; it is our own, in our very dioceses.”
Other members are: Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Social Development; Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee for African American Affairs; Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, Bishop Emeritus of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, former chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on the Church in Africa, member of the USCCB Subcommittee for African American Affairs, and member of the board of the National Black Catholic Congress; and Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD).
The Task Force will also have numerous bishop consultants, including USCCB vice president Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, as well as bishops whose jurisdictions have experienced extreme gun violence, or who otherwise bring special insight or experience on related questions. An equal or smaller number of lay consultants with relevant expertise will be appointed soon thereafter.
Innovative Media Inc.
30 Mansell Road Suite 103
Roswell, Georgia 30076, United States
--------------------
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