The Church has a new blessed, an apostle for freedom, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko.
From Cyprus on Sunday, June 6, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI
during the Angelus address spoke a “few words in Polish on the happy occasion
of the beatification today of Jerzy Popieluszko, priest and martyr: [I send
cordial greetings to the Church in Poland which today rejoices at the elevation
to the altars of Father Jerzy Popieluszko. His zealous service and his
martyrdom are a special sign of the victory of good over evil. May his example
and his intercession nourish the zeal of priests and enkindle the faithful with
love.]”
In 1984 I distinctively remember the tangible feelings upon hearing of the murder of the young priest, Father Jerzy Popieluszko, by the Communists. I think we all cried because he died for us. In fact, no person of Polish heritage could not not know about Popieluszko and identify with the struggle for human dignity and freedom he sought his people. He was seen as a the modern Saint Stanislaus, martyr. The tragic circumstances of his death were ever in front of us as yet another example of the evils of Communism.
Father Jerzy was a popular chaplain to members of the Solidarity movement. Yesterday, Archbishop Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefect of the Congregation of Saints, beatified Father Jerzy in the presence of his mother Marianna, 100, and other family members and nearly 140,000 people. Marianna is yet another living member of a saint or “saint-to-be.” How moving it is two see Father Jerzy’s mother present for her son’s beatification and the tremendous outpouring of love for him and for her.
Some quick facts:
Born: September 14, 1947
Ordained priest: May 28, 1972
Kidnapped & killed: October 19/20, 1984
Venerated: December 19, 2009
Beatified: June 6, 2010
Liturgical memorial: October 19
A hero of our time: Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Polish priest martyred in 1984. His liturgical memorial is today. Father Jerzy stood for the Faith and welfare of his people in the face of the Communist tyranny that wracked his country.
