Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a priest involved with the Solidarity movement and who was murdered by Poland’s communist secret police in 1984, was beatified during an open-air Mass held in Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square.
More than 120,000 pilgrims from across the country came to the capital to take part in the celebratory Mass, led by Papal envoy Archbishop Angelo Amato.
Soon after the Mass began, Archbishop Amato read out the act of beatification of Jerzy Popieluszko in Latin, after which Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz read out the text in Polish.
The feast day commemorating the life of Popieluszko will be held on October 19, the anniversary of his death.
The beatification of Jerzy Popieluszko is a “great gift to a great nation”, Archbishop Amato said during his homily to the faithful on Pilsudski Square.
The Papal envoy underlined that Father Popieluszko suffered because he was a faithful servant to the Catholic Church, and who defended his dignity in the name of Christ and the Church, as well as the freedom of those people, who like Popieluszko, were oppressed and humiliated.
The Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko’s mother, Marianna, was present at the Mass. Solidarity trade unionists also attended the Mass, along with 100 bishops and around 2000 priests.
After the Mass, a procession bearing a reliquary of Jerzy Popieluszko is to go from Pilsudski Square to the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw’s Wilanow district. (jb)
Audio by Michal Kubicki
Related stories:
Popieluszko’s remains exhumed , thenews.pl 08.04.2010
Fr. Popieluszko's beatification date released , polishradio.pl 16.02.2010
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