Father Jerzy
Popieluszko died for human rights and religious freedom in Poland on October 9,
1984. He did not need to do it. There was a path to freedom in the United
States offered to him, but he chose death rather than be silenced by a
government that hated the truth. Fr.
Jerzy is a hero for such a time as this.
Donald Wuerl’s latest book, To
the Martyrs: A Reflection on the Supreme Catholic Witness mentions Blessed
Fr. Jerzy. During Wuerl’s childhood in
Pittsburgh, church pews often held men who had been imprisoned for their
Catholic faith. “I know of one man from
the Ukraine, whose fingers were as gnarled as the limbs of an old oak,” he
recalled. The man had twice been
imprisoned and subjected to harsh cruelty.
“Every one of this fingers had been broken at least once and left to set
and heal without medical care,” Wuerl explained. “He survived; but he knew many others who did
not.”
from the Communist Eastern Bloc occasionally managed to visit relatives in the
Pittsburgh area for brief periods before returning home to government
surveillance and risks. “One such
visitor was Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a young Polish priest who was chaplain to
the Solidarity labor union,” Wuerl
wrote. He explained that Fr. Jerzy often
preached about injustices of Communism and as a result, was regularly detained
and threatened by the Polish government.
Fr. Jerzy had visited relatives in Pittsburg in 1972, 1974, and
1976. They urged him to seek refuge in
Pittsburg as they had done, but the priest felt God was calling him to serve
his people in Poland
Thedocumentary Jerzy Popieluszko Messenger
of Truth shows Polish crowds with tens of thousands defying government
orders and beatings in order gather for Fr. Jerzy’s Masses and to hear him
speak about freedom and human rights. The government officials feared and hated
the truth that he spoke. Fr. Jerzy had
become the chaplain for the Solidarity trade union that formed in 1980 against
Polish law. After 40 years of Communist
oppression, the working people—primarily Catholics– rose up and refused to be
silenced even in the darkest days of martial law.
was on his way to Warsaw on a forest road when he was ambushed, beaten to death,
and thrown into a river. Eleven days
later, the BBC
reported: “Polish police have recovered the body of a
Roman Catholic priest an outspoken champion of the banned trade union
Solidarity.
Father Jerzy Popieluszko,
aged 37, was kidnapped on 19 October allegedly by three secret police, led by a
police captain in the Interior Ministry, who have since been arrested.
“Father Popieluszko had become famous throughout Poland when he drew
thousands to his church where he preached against the Communist government. In March this year the Pope sent Father
Popieluszko a gift via the Bishop of Warsaw after he had attacked the Polish
Communist government for banning crucifixes from schools. After a 2-day search,
divers found his body in a reservoir on the River Vistula.”
It was estimated
that close to a million attended
his funeral and many miracles
are attributed to his intercession. Many believe that the blood of Fr. Jerzy’s
martyrdom led to the triumph of freedom in Poland when communism fell in 1989. The Church beatified him on June 6, 2010.
United States and around the world, as we see increased persecution of Christianity
let us pray to Fr. Jerzy, an intercessor for religious freedom.
the Intercession of Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko
servant Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko
even unto martyrdom,
Paul II,
like the Resurrection out of the
steadfast defender of the rights of God
country and to the world as a sign of victory of love over hate, be
raised to the glory of the Altar. Merciful God, at the intercession of the
Servant of God, Fr. Jerzy, grant me the grace for which I fervently ask, for __________________________________
sacrifice of Fr. Jerzy’s life, and his intercession with you,
faith, unity and peace in the world.
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With the approbation of the Primate of Poland,
Jozef Cardinal Glemp, 07-03-1997. No. 736/NK/97.
If one receives a grace through his intercession they are asked to
contact the
Postulator for the Process of Beatification:
ul. Hozjusza 2, 01-565, Warsaw, Poland.
~~~~~~
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