Bienheureux Jerzy Popieluszko
Prêtre et martyr (+ 1984)
«Vaincre avec le bien»
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/12617/Bienheureux-Jerzy-Popieluszko.html
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Jerzy Popiełuszko - zdjęcie z Europeany i Cyfrowego Archiwum Pamiątek
Le 19 octobre : Bienheureux Jerzy Popieluszko (1947 - 1984)
En août 1980, pendant la grève de Solidarité aux
aciéries de Varsovie, le père Jerry Popieluszko devient, à la demande des
sidérurgistes et par nomination du primat Wyszynski, aumônier des ouvriers. Il
s'engage profondément dans la pastorale des travailleurs et accompagne le
syndicat Solidarité pendant l'état de guerre. C'est à partir de janvier 1982
que le dernier dimanche de chaque mois, le père Jerzy Popieluszko célèbre des
messes à l'intention de sa patrie. Ces messes regroupent des milliers de fidèles
venant de Varsovie et de différentes régions de Pologne, devant des hommes à la
recherche de la vérité, de liberté et de justice, assoiffés d'amour et de paix.
C'est le 19 octobre 1984 que le père Jerzy Popieluszko
est attaqué alors qu'il revient en voiture de son service pastoral à Bydgoszcz.
Torturé, il est ensuite jeté dans la Vistule, près de la ville de Wloclawek.
Prière
Prions pour les prêtres des pays où les chrétiens
sont opprimés et persécutés. Que le Seigneur leur donne la force
d'encourager leurs fidèles à toujours plus de foi.
Soyons nous-mêmes des exemples pour nos frères,
invitons-les à plus de foi et d'espérance.
SOURCE : https://hozana.org/publication/98978-le-19-octobre-bienheureux-jerzy-popieluszko
Church of the Transfiguration in Sanok stained glass
window Jerzy Popiełuszko founded by Adam Sudoł
Kościół Przemienienia Pańskiego w Sanoku. Witraż - ks.
Jerzy Popiełuszko ufundowany przez ks. Adama Sudoła w 1994
Jerzy Popieluszko Béatifié Dimanche !
Le prêtre polonais Jerzy Popieluszko (1947-1984),
assassiné à 37 ans, fut notamment l'aumônier des ouvriers du syndicat «
Solidarnosc » à Varsovie.
Reconnu martyr par le Pape Benoît XVI en décembre dernier, il
sera Béatifié le 6 Juin 2010 à Varsovie.
Vingt-six ans déjà que le Père Jerzy Popieluszko était
jeté dans la Vistule après avoir été torturé à mort.
Elément gênant pour le régime dictatorial, ce
jeune prêtre de trente sept ans, ami de Lech Walesa et
proche de Jean-Paul II était devenu insupportable en raison de sa popularité.
On peut faire taire un homme. On n'aliène pas sa
conscience. On peut canaliser le pouvoir temporel d'une Eglise. On ne maîtrise
pas le rayonnement de ses martyrs.
La Pologne fête, ce 6 Juin 2010, une de ses grandes
figures nationales, en pleine Célébration de la Fête Dieu, dévotion
particulière pour ce prédicateur qui remuait les foules.
Sur décision de Benoît XVI, l'Église Catholique
célèbre sa Béatification à Varsovie. Les Catholiques de l'Église en France
expriment leur sentiment de fraternité à la communauté Polonaise.
Mgr Bernard Podvin
Porte-parole de la Conférence des évêques de France
Le Prêtre polonais Jerzy Popieluszko reconnu Martyr
par le Pape
Le Pape Benoît XVI a autorisé samedi 19 Décembre la publication des décrets concernant le martyre du Père Jerzy Popieluszko.
Né Alphonse Popieluszko le 14 Septembre 1947, le Père Jerzy Popieluszko a été
Baptisé dans l'église du village d'Okopy, près de Suchowola.
De santé fragile, le Père Jerzy Popieluszko a
particulièrement souffert des pressions exercées à l'encontre des séminaristes.
Il exerce ses fonctions pastorales en tant que vicaire de paroisses à Zabki, à proximité de Varsovie, de 1972 à
1975, puis à Anin de 1975 à 1978, et à Varsovie même, à la paroisse de l'Enfant Jésus.
En 1979-1980, il assure la catéchèse des étudiants en médecine à l'église
académique Sainte Anne à Varsovie.
Il s'engage profondément dans la pastorale des
travailleurs et accompagne le syndicat Solidarité pendant l'état de guerre.
C'est à partir de Janvier 1982 que le dernier Dimanche
de chaque mois, le père Jerzy Popieluszko célèbre des messes à l'intention de sa patrie.
Gdańsk, Plac Solidarności. Tablica - Jerzy
Popiełuszko.
Un miracle dans le Val-de-Marne ouvre la voie à la
Canonisation du Père Popieluszko
Kapliczka poświęcona pamięci męczeńskiej śmierci ks.
Jerzego Popiełuszki
Père Jerzy Popieluszko : ultime étape vers la
Canonisation
Pomnik ks. Jerzego Popiełuszki w Parku Jordana w
Krakowie.
Un Prêtre, exemple pour la nouvelle évangélisation.
« Jerzy Popieluszko, messager de la Vérité »
Anita Bourdin
ROME, Lundi 22 Octobre 2012 (ZENIT.org)
– Le Bienheureux Prêtre polonais Jerzy Popieluszko est un « exemple pour
la nouvelle évangélisation », estime Mgr Eterovic.
Les pères synodaux et les autres participants à la
XIIIe assemblée générale ordinaire du synode des évêques ont en effet été invités
à la projection du film “Jerzy Popieluszko, messager de la Vérité” à l’Institut
Maria Bambina, près du Vatican, à mercredi 17 Octobre.
Des extraits du film sur la vie du Bienheureux ont
également été projetés au terme de la 15e Congrégation générale du 17 Octobre
en la salle du synode.
Le secrétaire général du synode des Évêques, Mgr
Nikola Eterovic, a qualifié la vie du Prêtre polonais « d’exemple pour la
nouvelle évangélisation ».
Lors de l’angélus du 13 Juin, 2010, Benoît XVI a
évoqué le Martyr polonais en disant : « Il a exercé son Ministère
généreux et courageux aux côtés de ceux qui s'engageaient pour la liberté, pour
la défense de la vie et sa dignité. Son œuvre au service du bien et de la
vérité était un signe de contradiction pour le régime qui gouvernait alors en
Pologne. L'amour du Cœur du Christ l'a conduit à donner sa vie, et son
témoignage a été la semence d'un nouveau printemps dans l'Eglise et dans la
société ».
Le 6 Juin, le Pape avait dit : « En Août
1980, pendant la grève de Solidarité aux aciéries de Varsovie, le père Jerry
Popieluszko devient, à la demande des sidérurgistes et par nomination du primat
Wyszynski, aumônier des ouvriers. Il s'engage profondément dans la pastorale
des travailleurs et accompagne le syndicat Solidarité pendant l'état de guerre.
C'est à partir de Janvier 1982 que le dernier Dimanche de chaque mois, le Père
Jerzy Popieluszko Célèbre des Messes à l'intention de sa patrie. Ces Messes
regroupent des milliers de fidèles venant de Varsovie et de différentes régions
de Pologne, devant des hommes à la recherche de la vérité, de liberté et de
justice, assoiffés d'amour et de paix. C'est le 19 Octobre 1984 que le père
Jerzy Popieluszko est attaqué alors qu'il revient en voiture de son service
pastoral à Bydgoszcz. Torturé, il est ensuite jeté dans la Vistule, près de la
ville de Wloclawek. Son Ministère zélé et son Martyre sont un signe éloquent de
la victoire du bien sur le mal. Puissent son exemple et son intercession
nourrir le zèle des Prêtres et faire naître la Foi dans l’Amour ».
L'une des phrases les plus célèbres du P. Popieluszko
touche la proclamation de la Vérité : « Le devoir du Chrétiens est de
promouvoir la Vérité même si le prix est très élevé. Parce que la Vérité se
paie (...). Prions pour ne pas se laisser intimider, pour être libérés de la
peur et surtout du désir de la violence et de la vengeance. »
Il a été assassiné le 19 Octobre 1984. L'Eglise
célèbre sa Fête le 19 Octobre, jour de sa « naissance au Ciel », son
« dies natalis ».
Pomnik Jerzego Popiełuszki w parku miejskim im. Ks.
Jerzego Popiełuszki przy ul. Pl. Kościuszki w Suchowoli, gmina Suchowola,
podlaskie
Jerzy Popiełuszko monument in Jerzy Popiełuszko town
park by Pl. Kościuszki street in Suchowola, gmina Suchowola, podlaskie, Poland
Bienheureux Jerzy Popieluszko
Assassiné en 1984 à 37 ans, le prêtre polonais Jerzy Popieluszko, a été l'aumônier du syndicat Solidarność. Il a été béatifié en juin 2010 par Benoît XVI. Il pourrait être canonisé prochainement après un miracle intervenu en 2012 à Créteil.
Jerzy Popieluszko est né en 1947 à Okopy, un petit
village du nord-est de la Pologne, dans une famille modeste de paysans. Il
entre au séminaire à Varsovie, à l'âge de 18 ans.
Un prêtre engagé
Aumônier du syndicat Solidarność de Lech Walesa,
le père Popieluszko aide ses militants poursuivis et persécutés après
l'instauration de la loi martiale par le général Jaruzelski en décembre 1981.
Béatifié en 2010
Le procès en béatification du père Jerzy Popieluszko a
été ouvert en 1997 par le pape Jean Paul II. Benoît XVI a évoqué la figure de
père Jerzy Popieluszko lors de l’Angélus du juin 2010 quelques jours après sa
béatification : "Il a exercé son ministère généreux et courageux aux côtés
de ceux qui s'engageaient pour la liberté, pour la défense de la vie et sa
dignité. Son œuvre au service du bien et de la vérité était un signe de
contradiction pour le régime qui gouvernait alors en Pologne. L'amour du Cœur
du Christ l'a conduit à donner sa vie, et son témoignage a été la semence d'un
nouveau printemps dans l’Église et dans la société."
Vers la canonisation
Le 14 septembre 2012, la guérison d’un malade
hospitalisé à Créteil relance le procès en canonisation du Père Jerzy
Popieluszko ouvert en Pologne. Une commission d’enquête composée de deux
notaires français et polonais, du délégué épiscopal pour la canonisation de
Jerzy Popieluszko et d'un spécialiste du droit canon, interroge de nombreux
témoins dont le père Brien.
Le Père Bernard Brien est appelé le 14 septembre 2012
en urgence auprès d’un patient hospitalisé en soins palliatifs à l’hôpital
Chenevier de Créteil. Ce patient, atteint d'une leucémie depuis 2001 est
pratiquement dans le coma. Le père Brien lui administre le sacrement des
malades en présence de sa femme. Puis, il le confie à la prière du Père Jerzy
Popieluszko avec ces quelques mots : «Écoute Jerzy, nous sommes le 14
septembre, c’est ton anniversaire et le mien, donc si tu dois faire quelle
chose pour notre frère François, c’est le jour !» Le lendemain, le
malade se porte bien à la stupéfaction de son entourage ; et l’équipe
médicale observe un recul net de la maladie. Après de nombreuses analyses, les
médecins constatent une guérison rapide, totale et inexpliquée du cancer.
En son for intérieur, le père Brien est persuadé qu’il
s’agit d’un miracle, mais il garde le secret de cette guérison car,
dit-il «pour qu’un miracle soit reconnu, la guérison doit être spontanée
et totale, ce qui était le cas, mais elle doit aussi se vérifier dans le temps.
La patience s’imposait.» Il informe Mgr Santier de la guérison en mai 2013
qui prévient le père Tomasz Kaczmarek, postulateur de la cause du père Jerzy.
Après de nombreuses discussions, Mgr Santier, à la demande de l’archevêque de
Varsovie, ouvre une enquête diocésaine. Celle-ci aboutit en septembre 2015 à
reconnaître l’authenticité du miracle.
Les conclusions de l'enquête ont été envoyées à Rome à
la Congrégation pour les causes des Saints à Rome qui présentera le dossier au
pape, seul habilité à décréter la canonisation du père Jerzy Popieluszko.
Geneviève Pasquier
SOURCE : https://croire.la-croix.com/Definitions/Lexique/Saint/Bienheureux-Jerzy-Popieluszko
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Le Bienheureux Père Jerzy Popiełuszko, martyr de la
foi, a vaincu le mal par le bien.
La Pologne célébrait le 19 octobre dernier le 35ème anniversaire de la mort du bienheureux père Jerzy Popiełuszko, martyr, combattant pour la vérité. Interview autour de cette belle figure avec Joanna Chlebicka, en mission à Procida (Italie).
TdC : Peux-tu présenter brièvement ce bienheureux
si cher aux polonais ?
JCh : Jerzy (George) Popiełuszko (1947-1984) est
un prêtre et martyr Polonais. A l’époque de la Pologne communiste, il
raffermissait la société, enseignant à vaincre le mal par le bien et offrant la
souffrance de ses compatriotes sur l’autel eucharistique. Les messes pour la
patrie qu’il a célébré rassemblaient des milliers de croyants de toute la
Pologne. Elles étaient un oasis de liberté et une communauté de prière intense.
Le 19 octobre 1984, le père Jerzy fut enlevé et sauvagement assassiné par les
autorités communistes. Il avait 37 ans et 12 ans de sacerdoce. Il a été
béatifié par le Pape Benoît XVI en 2010.
TdC : Il fut nommé par l’épiscopat polonais comme
aumônier du mouvement Solidarité. Pourquoi une telle nomination, pourquoi
ces personnes avaient-elles besoin d’un pasteur ? De quoi souffraient-elles et
en quoi consistait sa mission ?
JCh : Le Père Jerzy Popiełuszko était le pasteur
de la communauté médicale (médecins, infirmières, étudiants en médecine). Comme
prêtre, il voulait être là où régnait la plus grande souffrance. C’est ainsi
que, d’une manière naturelle, un lien fort s’établit entre lui et le monde des
travailleurs. Il devint aumônier de Solidarité parce que les ouvriers
étaient le groupe le plus nombreux et le plus vulnérable dans le système
communiste. Le syndicat indépendant Solidarité leur permettait de
lutter ensemble pour des conditions de travail et de vie décentes.
La société Polonaise connut de vastes répressions,
surtout après l’introduction de la loi martiale – licenciement (dans un système
où l’État était le seul employeur, il n’était pas possible d’obtenir un nouvel
emploi), emprisonnement et internement, arrestation et torture, écoute
clandestine, surveillance, interdiction des rassemblements publics, censure,
manque d’accès aux produits essentiels dans les magasins. Telle était la
réalité dans laquelle vivaient les Polonais. Le père Jerzy croyait que le rôle
du prêtre était de placer ces souffrances de la nation sur l’autel de
l’Eucharistie, les reliant au sacrifice du Christ.
TdC : Toute la génération se souvient de la voix
du bienheureux Jerzy Popiełuszko, qui prêchait une fois par mois un sermon à la
messe pour la patrie. De quoi parlaient les sermons ?
JCh : Son enseignement était très riche, mais le
plus souvent il revenait à la question de la vérité, la vérité, qui est le
Christ, qui détermine la liberté et la dignité inaliénable de tout être humain.
Quelques phrases de lui sont restées dans tous les esprits :
– Nous surmontons la peur lorsque nous acceptons de
souffrir ou de perdre quelque chose au nom de valeurs supérieures. Si la vérité
est une telle valeur pour nous, pour laquelle il vaut la peine de souffrir, il
vaut la peine de prendre un risque, alors nous vaincrons la peur, qui est la
cause directe de notre esclavage.
– Un homme qui témoigne de la vérité est un homme
libre, même dans des conditions d’esclavage extérieur.
– Pour rester spirituellement libre, il faut vivre
dans la vérité (…). La vérité est immuable. La vérité ne peut être détruite par
une décision ou une autre, une loi ou une autre.
– Seul peut vaincre le mal celui qui seul est riche en
bonté, qui prend soin du développement et de la croissance en lui des valeurs
qui font la dignité humaine d’un enfant de Dieu. Multiplier le bien et vaincre
le mal, c’est prendre soin de la dignité de l’enfant de Dieu et de la dignité
de sa propre personne.
L’homélie des messes pour la patrie faisait une référence aux grands événements de la vie sociale (comme la béatification de Maximilien Kolbe, les pèlerinages du pape Jean-Paul II en Pologne, les anniversaires du soulèvement national au XIXe siècle). Les messes elles-mêmes étaient mises en valeur par de nombreuses contributions des fidèles : récitation de poésies, décoration de l’autel, beauté des chants. Le père Jerzy appuyait souvent ses homélies sur les enseignements du cardinal Stefan Wyszyński (dont la béatification aura lieu le 7 juin 2020) et du pape Jean-Paul II.
TdC : Malgré son énorme influence sur les
Polonais de son temps, il était un homme très réservé et timide.
JCh : Bien qu’issu d’une famille simple et
rurale, il avait une grande sensibilité artistique et linguistique. Dans ses
homélies, cependant, il utilisait un langage simple pour les rendre
compréhensibles de tous. Le père Jerzy était un homme très modeste. Il était
très attentif à chacun. Les gens lui présentaient leurs problèmes, sachant
qu’il ne resterait pas indifférent. C’était un homme en mauvaise santé et un
peu courbé, mais il portait sur ses épaules les problèmes de milliers de
personnes. Dans le même temps, il faisait lui-même l’objet d’une surveillance
exceptionnelle des services spéciaux – écoutes téléphoniques, espions dans le
voisinage immédiat, menaces et tentatives d’intimidation, surveillance
constante, provocations, convocations pour interrogatoires et arrestations. Son
entourage immédiat essayait bien de le protéger, mais tout le monde, y compris
lui, était conscient de la menace qui pesait sur sa vie. Le père Jerzy
considérait que le rôle du prêtre était de proclamer la vérité, de souffrir pour
la vérité, et s’il faut, donner sa vie pour elle.
TdC : Cette année, l’Eglise Polonaise célèbre le
35ème anniversaire de sa mort, sa figure est-elle encore importante pour les
Polonais et les chrétiens de notre temps ?
JCh : Le père Jerzy était un prêtre ardent, proche des gens et un grand patriote, c’est donc une figure très importante pour la nation polonaise. Le culte du Père Jerzy Popiełuszko ne se limite pas à la Pologne. Il y a déjà plus de 1400 reliques de 1er degré dans le monde, dont 400 hors des frontières de la Pologne, sur différents continents. Son culte est encore en développement – le processus de canonisation est en cours. Son enseignement sur la vérité est aussi valable à l’époque du sécularisme universel qu’il ne l’était à l’époque du communisme.
TdC : Vous avez travaillé au Musée Popiełuszko,
en quoi consistait ce travail? Quelle est votre relation avec le
Bienheureux ? Pouvez-vous partager quelques anecdotes avec nos lecteurs ?
JCh : En 2011, le Cardinal métropolitain de
Varsovie, le Cardinal Nycz, a créé le « Centre de Documentation de la Vie
et du Culte du bienheureux père Jerzy Popiełuszko « . Le siège du centre
est situé dans l’appartement du Père Jerzy à la paroisse St. Stanislas Kostka à
Varsovie, où il a passé les dernières années de sa vie. Le centre dispose d’une
grande collection de documents, de photographies, d’enregistrements audio et
vidéo et de documents.
J’ai travaillé au centre pendant 14 mois (aussi
longtemps que durera ma mission avec Points-Cœur) pour coordonner le projet de
numérisation. Ce fut une grande grâce de travailler dans l’appartement du Père
Jerzy, apprenant à connaître les témoins de sa vie, apercevant chaque jour de
la fenêtre un groupe de pèlerins (du monde entier) venu prier sur sa tombe et
écoutant les témoignages sur les grâces reçues par son intercession. Ils sont
la preuve que le père Jerzy est un intercesseur très efficace pour toutes
sortes d’affaires. Le Père Jerzy continue à rassembler des gens merveilleux
autour de lui et cette relation étroite avec eux – dans un esprit d’amour pour
l’Eglise et la Patrie – fut une grande grâce pour moi.
Propos recueillis par Clément Imbert
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Jerzy Popiełuszko - zdjęcie z Europeany
i Cyfrowego Archiwum Pamiątek
Bienheureux Père Popieluszko : « Écoute Jerzy, c’est
le jour, fais-le ! »
ARTICLE | 06/11/2014 | Numéro 1922 | Par Magali Michel
La guérison miraculeuse, en 2012, de François Audelan,
atteint d'une leucémie, est attribuée au Père Popieluszko. Témoignage exclusif,
en compagnie de son épouse Chantal et du Père Bernard Brien.
Vous rentrez de Pologne où vous avez participé à
l’hommage rendu au Père Popieluszko trente ans après sa mort. Quelles sont vos
impressions ?
Chantal Audelan – Le 18 octobre, nous étions à
Wloclawek, au barrage sur la Vistule, au lieu où le Père Popieluszko a été jeté
à l’eau après avoir été torturé. À cet endroit, nous avons suivi ses reliques
en procession en méditant le rosaire. Puis il y a eu une messe en plein air, là
où s’élève une basilique qui va devenir un sanctuaire en son honneur. Cette
messe a duré tout l’après-midi. La Pologne est impressionnante de ferveur. On
dirait que la foi lui coule dans les veines. Rien qu’à Cracovie, on dénombre
440 paroisses, 1 170 prêtres, 964 religieux, 2 700 religieuses et
120 séminaristes. Le contraste est saisissant avec la France.
Le Père Bernard Brien – Le lendemain, une autre
célébration à Varsovie a réuni une foule venue de toute la Pologne. La présence
du syndicat Solidarnosc y était très forte.
François Audelan – Il faut se rappeler ce qu’ont
vécu ces gens et voir les documents d’époque. Ce peuple a résisté à une
pression folle. Dans les an-nées 80, nous avions des supermarchés pléthoriques.
Eux ne mangeaient pas à leur faim, ne pouvaient pas parler, et souffraient pour
la foi. Ils ont fait masse, ils ont fait corps. Le Père Jerzy est un exemple
parmi bien d’autres, il est loin d’être un cas isolé.
Et votre rencontre avec la famille Popieluszko ?
C. A. – Nous avons vu une famille très meurtrie.
Mais tous lumineux. Ils sont encore marqués par la mort du Père Jerzy et par
les représailles qui ont suivi ses funérailles historiques. Stanislas
Popieluszko, son jeune frère, sanglotait aux célébrations. Ils nous ont serrés chaleureusement
dans leurs bras. À travers François, nous avions l’impression qu’ils
retrouvaient un petit souffle de leur disparu.
Mon Père, comment vous êtes-vous découvert jumeau du
Père Popieluszko ?
B. B. – En juillet 2012, quatre mois après mon
ordination, je suis parti sur les traces de Jean-Paul II en Pologne. Durant ce
pèlerinage, j’ai découvert dans la banlieue de Varsovie le tombeau et la
paroisse du Père Popieluszko. Attiré par ce martyr, j’ai réalisé que nous
étions nés le même jour, le même mois, la même année. C’est au retour de ce
voyage que j’ai été appelé au chevet de François, le 14 septembre, jour
anniversaire de la naissance du Père Jerzy et de la mienne.
Retenu pour la canonisation du bienheureux
Popieluszko, un miracle s’est produit à Créteil le 14 septembre 2012. Que
s’est-il passé ce jour-là ?
F. A. – En 2012, j’ai 56 ans, une épouse, trois
filles, un métier qui me passionne. On termine de rembourser la maison de nos
rêves. Mais depuis deux ans, je dégringole. Une leucémie rare découverte onze
ans plus tôt évolue à toute allure. Je reçois une greffe de moelle osseuse en
mai. Fin août, « il y a des métastases partout ». Le scanner est sans appel. À
ce stade, seuls des traitements de confort sont préconisés. Le 11 septembre,
j’entre en soins palliatifs à l’hôpital Albert-Chenevier de Créteil.
C. A. – Dans le couloir, Sœur Rozalia, une
religieuse polonaise de l’aumônerie, me propose le sacrement des malades pour
mon mari. J’accepte volontiers connaissant la force immense apportée par ce sacrement
déjà reçu trois fois depuis que François est malade.
B. B. – Le vendredi 14 septembre, appelé en début
d’après-midi par cette même religieuse, je file à Albert-Chenevier. Elle me
conduit dans la chambre, où je vois un homme au visage bouffi en phase
terminale.
C. A. – Le Père Bernard a posé sur la table de
chevet une bougie, la croix de Jean-Paul II et l’image d’un prêtre martyr
polonais.
Une
fois le sacrement donné, il nous propose de confier François à l’intercession
de ce jeune martyr du communisme.
L’image du Père Jerzy en main, nous lisons la prière d’action
de grâce. François est somnolent.
B. B. – Arrivé à la phrase « Accorde-moi par son
intercession la grâce de… », je complète : « Écoute Jerzy, c’est aujourd’hui le
14 septembre, c’est ton anniversaire et le mien, si tu dois faire quelque chose
pour notre frère François, c’est le jour, fais-le ». Puis avec Sœur Rozalia,
nous nous éclipsons. Je m’entends encore lui dire que ça n’irait pas bien loin.
C. A. – La porte de la chambre se referme, je
suis assise à côté de François quand il ouvre les yeux et me demande : « Que
m’est-il arrivé ? » Ce sont ses premiers mots cohérents depuis des semaines,
mais je ne réalise pas. J’ai l’image d’un voile qui se déchire. C’est tout. Le
lendemain, je contacte deux sociétés de pompes funèbres.
B. B. – Le lendemain à midi, le téléphone sonne.
« Père Bernard ! Père Bernard ! C’est un miracle ! » Au bout du fil, Sœur
Rozalia est très excitée. En allant porter la communion à François, elle trouve
le lit vide. Elle croit à un décès survenu pendant la nuit. Une infirmière la
détrompe : il se douche…
F. A. – Du sacrement des malades, je ne me
rappelle rien. Je me souviens vaguement avoir demandé ce qui m’arrivait avant
de replonger. Je ne réalise pas que je suis guéri. La nuit suivante, en
revanche, en essayant de me lever à trois reprises, je découvre que je ne tiens
plus debout. Les jours suivants sont terribles quand je comprends où je suis.
Une psychologue me prépare à mourir. À aucun moment on ne pense au miracle.
À partir de quand avez-vous cru au miracle ?
C. A. – J’ai vu mon mari sortir du tombeau comme
Lazare. Ses bandelettes ont mis des mois à tomber. Après la guérison du
syndrome myélo-prolifératif, François a souffert de graves séquelles oculaires,
pulmonaires, rénales et dermatologiques. Durant des mois, le Malin se déchaîne.
Il fait tout pour brouiller la manifestation de la guérison. Pourtant, en
janvier 2013, « il n’y a plus rien du tout ». L’équipe médicale du service
d’hématologie clinique qui suit François depuis douze ans constate qu’il est
guéri. Le cancer a disparu. Cette rémission totale fait dire au médecin chef :
« Cas spectaculaire, voire miraculeux ». Ce jour-là, nous savons que le
Seigneur a totalement guéri François.
Comment les faits sont-ils arrivés jusqu’à Rome ?
B. B. – Pour un miracle, la guérison doit être
totale et immédiate, mais elle doit aussi se vérifier dans la durée. Nous
sommes longtemps restés discrets. Lorsque la rémission médicalement
inexplicable a été attestée par plusieurs médecins, nous avons été reçus par
Mgr Michel Santier, notre évêque, informé à son tour. Lui-même avait confié sa
mission et son diocèse au bienheureux Popieluszko lors d’un pèlerinage en
Pologne un an plus tôt ! Ensuite, nous rencontrons le postulateur, Mgr Tomasz
Kaczmarek. Avéré par une commission diocésaine, le miracle est retenu en mai
2014 par la Congrégation pour la cause des saints.
Père Brien, que vous inspirent tous ces événements ?
B. B. – Dieu n’en finit pas de montrer avec
quelle miséricorde Il relève ceux qui tombent. J’ai passé quarante ans sans
fréquenter l’Église. Ce désert a duré de 16 à 56 ans. Un an après la conversion
radicale qui m’a ramené au Seigneur, j’ai entendu l’appel au sacerdoce. C’était
pendant une adoration. J’ai été ordonné à 65 ans. À mon avis, « ses décisions
sont insondables et ses chemins impénétrables » (saint Paul).
François, comment vivez-vous cette intervention
extraordinaire ?
F. A. – Je me sens tout petit devant une si
grande grâce. Pourquoi moi ? Je suis habité par le syndrome du survivant. Je
suis sidéré. Que me dis-Tu, Seigneur ? Comment rendre ce que j’ai reçu ?
Vous rendez témoignage au corps et au sang du Christ.
F. A. – J’ai toujours eu soif de l’eucharistie.
C. A. – À chaque hospitalisation, François a reçu
l’eucharistie tous les jours et même en chambre stérile. Quelle grâce ! Douze
ans plus tôt, quand nous avons découvert la leucémie de François, je me
souviens avoir reçu une image intérieure. C’était au cours d’une messe, juste
après avoir communié. Cette vision a été notre force depuis. J’ai vu une veine
dans laquelle coulait le sang de François, chargé de son cancer, à l’extrémité,
une hostie filtrait ce sang malade. J’étais assurée que le corps du Christ serait
force et salut pour nous.
Que retenez-vous du Père Jerzy ?
C. A. – Sans se lasser, il a proclamé que c’est
par le bien qu’on peut vaincre le mal. J’aime ses phrases : « Quel que soit ton
métier, tu es un homme » ; « L’école ne peut pas détruire les valeurs que la
famille a semées dans l'âme des enfants » ; « La sainteté est notre vocation et
notre devoir ».
F. A. – Sa santé précaire. Il avait une peur
bleue du cancer du sang !
B. B. – Il est un exemple de grande sensibilité
envers les personnes souffrantes, déprimées, perdues. Mgr Tomasz Kaczmarek
rappelle aussi qu’il a été « un apôtre inépuisable et un dispensateur de
sacrement de la pénitence ». Ça me touche, moi qui ai été ordonné le dimanche
de la Divine Miséricorde.
Le bienheureux Père Popieluszko
Béatifié en 2010, le bienheureux Jerzy Popieluszko est
désormais en lice pour la canonisation. Pour être porté sur les autels, la
reconnaissance d’un miracle suffit. C’est à quoi travaille une commission
annoncée et constituée, le 20 septembre, par Mgr Michel Santier, évêque de
Créteil. C’est en effet dans le Val-de-Marne qu’a eu lieu le miracle retenu
pour plaider le procès en canonisation du bienheureux martyr polonais. Reste
maintenant à prouver l’authenticité du miracle présumé.
Un tribunal constitué de deux notaires, d’un promoteur
de justice, d’experts médecins, d’un délégué épiscopal et d’un président, s’y
attelle. Depuis sa création, cette commission d’enquête a déjà procédé à
l’audition d’une partie des témoins du miracle. La seconde audition se tiendra
en décembre. En sus, deux médecins neutres examineront François Audelan et tous
les certificats médicaux fournis. S’ensuivra un long travail de traduction en
polonais, latin et italien des pièces réunies. Après quoi, le dossier sera
envoyé au postulateur, Mgr Tomasz Kaczmarek, qui le transmettra à la
Congrégation pour la cause des saints, à Rome. Il faudra alors attendre que le
pape François signe le décret. La canonisation du bienheureux Popieluszko fait
partie des événements très attendus avec à l’horizon, également, les prochaines
Journées mondiales de la jeunesse prévues à Cracovie en 2016.
M. M.
Jerzy Popieluszko
LE 19 OCTOBRE 1984 …..IL Y A 25 ANS
"Mon cri était celui de ma patrie"
Le Père Jerzy Popieluszko, actif défenseur du Syndicat
Solidarité, est mort martyrisé le 19 octobre 1984, à l’âge de 37 ans, sous les
coups de la police politique polonaise. Jeune prêtre de Varsovie nommé aumônier
des aciéries de Huta Warszawa par le Cardinal Wyszynski, Il était alors un des
jeunes prêtres polonais les plus populaires. Les hommes de la police polonaise
ont cherché à enlever secrètement le Père Poieluszko, afin de le faire
disparaître mystérieusement. Ils espéraient pouvoir continuer leur macabre
besogne sur d’autres prêtres défenseurs de Solidarité, afin de créer un climat
de terreur en Pologne, dans la tradition des meilleures heures du stalinisme.
Leur but était de faire plier à la fois l’Église et le peuple polonais, dans un
contexte mêlé d’incertitude et d’angoisse. Mais en échappant à leurs mains, un
homme à réussi à casser la machine infernale des agents du terrorisme d’État.
Cet homme là était Waldemar Chrotowski, le chauffeur et l’ami du Père
Popieluszko. Enlevé en même temps que le Prêtre, il est parvenu à sauter en
marche de la voiture des policiers
SOURCE : http://www.beskid.com/popieluszko.html
Jerzy Aleksander (au baptême : Alfons) Popiełuszko naît le 14 septembre 1947 à Okopy, un petit village de Voïvodine, au nord-est de Białystok (Pologne), au sein d’une famille de paysans profondément chrétienne.
Entré au grand séminaire de Varsovie en 1965, il a été
appelé, un an plus tard, sous les drapeaux, pour faire ses trois années de
service militaire dans une unité spéciale. Les autorités militaires procédaient
à un endoctrinement anticlérical et antireligieux pour détourner les
séminaristes de leur vocation. Il fut l'objet de vexations et de persécutions
qui portèrent atteinte à sa santé.
Jerzy Popiełuszko fut ordonné prêtre le 28 mai 1972
par le cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, primat de Pologne, et choisit pour devise
sacerdotale les paroles du prophète Isaïe et de l'Évangile de Luc : « Il
m'a envoyé porter la Bonne Nouvelle aux pauvres, panser les plaies des cœurs
brisés ».
Il exerça ses fonctions pastorales en tant que vicaire
de paroisses à Ząbki, à proximité de Varsovie, puis à Anin, et enfin à Varsovie
même, à la paroisse de l'Enfant Jésus.
En 1979-1980, il assura la catéchèse des étudiants en
médecine à l'église académique Sainte-Anne à Varsovie. Il fut également nommé
membre du Corps consultatif national pour la pastorale du service de santé et
aumônier diocésain du personnel de santé.
Dès mai 1980, il exerça son ministère dans la paroisse
Saint-Stanislas-Kostka à Varsovie.
En août 1980, pendant la grève de Solidarność aux
aciéries de Varsovie, le père Jerzy Popiełuszko devient, à la demande des
sidérurgistes et par nomination du primat Wyszyński, aumônier des ouvriers. Il
s'engage profondément dans la pastorale des travailleurs et accompagne le
syndicat Solidarność pendant l'état de guerre.
Après le coup de force du général Wojciech Jaruzelski
contre Solidarność en décembre 1981, le père Popieluszko s'était mis à célébrer
des « Messes pour la patrie », où les homélies affrontaient des
thèmes religieux et spirituels mais aussi des questions d'actualité, à
caractère social, politique et moral. Ces messes regroupent des milliers de
fidèles venant de Varsovie et de différentes régions de Pologne, suscitant la
fureur du pouvoir communiste.
Considéré comme « dangereux », Jerzy Popiełuszko fut
enlevé par trois officiers de la police politique (SB) le 19 octobre 1984,
alors qu'il revient en voiture de son service pastoral. Après avoir été torturé
jusqu'à ce que mort s'ensuive, le corps est lesté puis jeté dans un réservoir
d'eau de la Vistule (à 120 km au nord de Varsovie). Son corps méconnaissable ne
sera découvert, par des plongeurs, que plusieurs jours plus tard dans ce
réservoir, grâce aux aveux des trois officiers. Ses funérailles, auxquelles
participèrent plus de 1.000 prêtres et des centaines de milliers de fidèles,
furent célébrées le 3 novembre 1984 à Varsovie.
Le père Popiełuszko symbolise, aux yeux des Polonais,
la lutte commune de l'opposition démocratique et de l'Église catholique contre
un régime totalitaire.
Jerzy Popiełuszko à été béatifié le 6 juin 2010 par
le card. Angelo Amato s.d.b., Préfet de la Congrégation pour la cause des
Saints, qui représentait le pape Benoît XVI.
La célébration, qui a eu lieu en Pologne, à Varsovie,
sur la place du Maréchal Józef Pilsudski, réunissait des fidèles venus de tout
le pays, les membres du syndicat « Solidarność », les autorités civiles et
militaires, les prêtres, les personnes consacrées, la mère du bienheureux,
Marianna Popiełuszko, et la famille du prêtre martyr.
SOURCE : https://levangileauquotidien.org/FR/display-saint/a4d34830-d504-456c-bf40-976a2df114d0
A memorial in the shape of an overturned cross
commemorating the kidnapping of Father Joseph Popieluszko in Górsk on 19
October 1984
Pomnik w kształcie przewróconego krzyża upamiętniający porwanie księdza Józefa Popiełuszki w Górsku w dniu 19 października 1984 r.
Profile
Born to a farm family. Ordained on 28 May 1972 in
the archdiocese of Warsaw, Poland.
Noted and vocal anti-Communist preacher during
the period of Communist rule
in Poland.
Worked closely with the anti-Communist Solidarity
union movement. When martial law was declared in Poland to
suppress opposition, the Church continued
to work against the Communists,
and Father Jerzy’s
sermons were broadcast on Radio Free Europe. The secret police threatened and
pressured him to stop, but he ignored them. They trumped up evidence and arrested him
in 1983,
but the Church hierarchy
indicated that they would fight the charges; the false charges were
dropped, Father Jerzy
was released, continued his work, and was pardoned in a general amnesty
of 22
July 1984.
The Communists tried
several times to kill him and make it look like an accident or anonymous
attack, but they quit hiding their intentions, and the secret police simply
kidnapped and killed Father Jerzy. Martyr.
Born
14
September 1947 in
Okopy, Podlaskie, Poland
kidnapped on 19
October 1984 by
the Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa (Security Service of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs), the Communist Polish secret
police
beaten
to death from 19 to 20
October 1984 near
Wloclawek, Pomorskie, Poland
body dumped in the Vistula Water Reservoir where it
was found on 30
October 1984
the murderers and their supervisor, Grzegorz
Piotrowski, Waldemar Chmielewski, Adam Pietruszka, and Leszek Pêkala, were
arrested, convicted of the crime, and received light sentences
more than 250,000 attended Father Jerzy’s
funeral
buried at
Saint Kostka’s Church, Warsaw, Poland
the rock that struck the killing blow
is enshrined at
Saint Bartholomew’s Basilica, Tiber Island, Rome, Italy
19
December 2009 by Pope Benedict
XVI (decree of martyrdom)
6 June 2010 by Pope Benedict
XVI
recognition to be celebrated at Piłsudski Square,
Warsaw, Poland,
presided by Archbishop Angelo
Amato
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-jerzy-popieluszko/
30-years of Solidarity (Polish trade union) mural in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski (priest Jerzy Popiełuszko in foreground)
Polish priest, martyr and hero: Remembering Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko
by Mary
Farrow
Warsaw, Poland, Oct 19, 2018 / 04:42 pm MT (CNA).- When
Communist officials kidnapped and killed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, they likely
did not intend to help create a Polish hero, martyr and future saint for the
Catholic Church.
Although the Communists had been trying to kill
Popiełuszko in ways that would seem like an accident, they captured him 34
years ago today, on Oct. 19, 1984. They beat him to death and threw his body
into a river. He was 37 years old.
His crimes: encouraging peaceful resistance to
Communism via the radio waves of Radio Free Europe, and working as chaplain to
the workers of the Solidarność (Solidarity) movement and trade union, which was
known for its opposition to Communism.
Popiełuszko was born on Sept. 14, 1947 to a farming
family in Okopy, a village in eastern Poland bordering modern-day Ukraine.
While World War II had ended, the regime of the Communist Party had taken place
of the Nazis and ruled Poland at the time.
As a young man, Popiełuszko served his required time
in the army before completing seminary studies and becoming a priest for the
Archdiocese of Warsaw. He was ordained on May 28, 1972 at the age of 24.
As a priest in Warsaw, Popiełuszko served in both
regular and student parishes. He became known for his steadfast, non-violent
resistance to Communism, about which he spoke frequently in his homilies, which
were broadcast on Radio Free Europe.
Popiełuszko participated in the Solidarity worker’s
strike in Warsaw on March 27, 1981, a four-hour national warning strike that
essentially ground Poland to a halt, and was the biggest strike in the history
of the Soviet Bloc and in the history of Poland.
After this strikes, the Communist party declared
martial law until July 1983 in the country, severely restricting the daily life
of Poles in an effort to clamp down on their growing political opposition.
During this time, Popiełuszko celebrated monthly
“Masses for the Homeland” on the last Sunday of the month, advocating for human
rights and peaceful resistance of Communism, and attracting thousands of
attendees. His Warsaw office had also become an official hub for Solidarity
activities.
It was also during this time that Communist attacks
against the priest escalated. In 1982, Communist authorities attempted to bomb
the priest’s home, but he escaped unharmed. In 1983, Popiełuszko was arrested
on false charges by the Communist authorities, but was released shortly
thereafter following significant pressure from the Polish people and the
Catholic Church.
According to a 1990
article in the Washington Post, Cardinal Józef Glemp, Archbishop of Warsaw
at the time, received a secret message from the Polish Pope John Paul II,
demanding that Glemp defend Popiełuszko and advocate for his release.
"Defend Father Jerzy - or they'll start finding
weapons in the desk of every second bishop," the pope wrote.
But the Communist officials did not relent. According
to court testimony, in September 1984 Communist officials had decided that the
priest needed to either be pushed from a train, have a “beautiful traffic
accident” or be tortured to death.
On October 13, 1984, Popiełuszko managed to avoid a
traffic accident set up to kill him. The back-up plan, capture and torture, was
carried out by Communist authorities on Oct. 19. They lured the priest to them
by pretending that their car had broken down on a road along which the priest
was travelling.
The captors reportedly beat the priest with a rock
until he died, and then tied his mangled body to rocks and bags of sand and
dumped it in a reservoir along the Vistula River.
His body was recovered on Oct. 30, 1984.
His death grieved and enraged Catholics and members of
the Solidarity movement, who had hoped to accomplish social change without
violence.
“When the news was announced at his parish church, his
congregation was silent for a moment and then began shrieking and weeping with
grief,” the
BBC wrote of the priest’s death.
“The worst has happened. Someone wanted to kill and he
killed not only a man, not a Pole, not only a priest. Someone wanted to kill
the hope that it is possible to avoid violence in Polish political life,”
Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, a friend of Popiełuszko, said at the time.
He also urged mourners to remain calm and peaceful
during the priest’s funeral, which drew more than a quarter of a million
people.
Again facing pressure from the Church and the Polish
people, Poland's president Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski was forced to answer for
the priest’s death, and arrested Captain Grzegorz Piotrowski, Leszek Pękala,
Waldemar Chmielewski and Colonel Adam Pietruszka as responsible for the murder.
“Our intelligence sources in Poland do not believe
it,” the Washington Post reported in 1990, when the case was being revisited.
“Jaruzelski had presided over a far-reaching
anti-church campaign. At least two other priests died mysteriously. And
Jaruzelski created the climate that allowed the SB (Communist secret service)
to persecute and kill Father Jerzy.”
In 2009, Popiełuszko was posthumously awarded the
Order of the White Eagle, the highest civilian or military decoration in
Poland. That same year, he was declared a martyr of the Catholic Church by Pope
Benedict XVI, and on June 6, 2010 he was beatified. A miracle in France through
the intercession of Popiełuszko is being investigated in France as the final
step in his cause for canonization.
Popiełuszko is one of more than 3,000 priests martyred
in Poland under the Nazi and Communist regimes which dominated the country from
1939-1989.
On Friday, Archbishop Stanisław Budzik of Poland and
the Polish bishops’ conference released a statement honoring the memory of
Father Popiełuszko and all the 20th century priest martyrs of Poland.
“Today, remembering Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, we remember
the unswerving priests who preached the Gospel, served God and people in the
most terrible times and had the courage not only to suffer for the faith but to
give what is most dear to men: their lives.”
Jerzego Popiełuszki, znajdujący się na budynku lokalnej siedziby związku w Ostrowcu Świętokrzyskim
The Touching Story of Blessed Father Jerzy Popieluszko
MAR 1, 2019 ELEONORE VILLARRUBIA
This beloved and unassuming young priest of Poland was
a true hero of that tortured land during the Soviet Communist occupation. Now a
Blessed, Father Jerzy (pronounced YEH-Zhe) was beloved by everyone in his
homeland, believers and non-believers alike, because of his bravery in the face
of extreme hatred on the part of the Communist officials. His story should be
much more widely known than it is.
Never in good health, the strongest part of Father
Jerzy were his hands. His most beloved possessions were the crucifix and Rosary
sent to him by Pope John Paul II, a fellow countryman. He was sickly his whole
life, yet he never complained of illness or injury. One day when he was making
toys with his brothers and sisters, a nail pierced his palm. Later, one of the
children noticed blood dripping from his hand. One of his siblings told the
parents because young Jerzy did not want to bother anyone.
Young Jerzy’s great hero was Saint Maximillian Kolbe,
another Polish priest who gave his life to save another prisoner – a man with a
family – at Auschwitz. He determined early on to become a priest, but kept it a
secret so that the authorities could not alter his examination results or
pressure the family to keep him out of the seminary.
In 1966, his entire seminary class was drafted into
the special indoctrination unit in violation of a church-state agreement. This
cruel treatment was reserved for the most outspoken church leaders, including
the future Pope John Paul II.
The horrible treatment he received in this “special
unit” broke his health, but not his spirit. He wrote to his father “It turned
out to be very tough, but I can’t be broken by threats or torture.” His
seminary professors demanded that he take a period of rest, but he refused.
“One doesn’t suffer when one suffers for Christ,” was his reply.
He became so weak that he suffered recurring fainting spells.
A fellow priest found him lying in a dead faint at the foot of the altar,
unconscious. After he endured another long hospital stay, it was discovered
that Father Jerzy suffered from a serious blood disorder. He would need
transfusions after each recurrence of the illness. He was placed on a special
diet. His doctors hoped that a quiet life would prevent further episodes. He
planned to rest and spend more time with his beloved seminary students when the
call came that would give him no rest for the remainder of his life. His new
position as chaplain to factory workers “gave him wings,” and changed the
course of his life. He worked tirelessly to learn how to operate machinery, but
more importantly, he grew to love the workers and they grew to love him. He
tore down barriers between himself and the worker; there were many baptisms and
weddings. All this brought him much joy.
In the meantime, He was shadowed relentlessly by the
secret police, receiving death threats and urged to break contact with his beloved
workers. “Truth that costs nothing is a lie,” became his motto.
In autumn of 1981, Father Jerzy came to the United
States to attend the funeral of a beloved aunt. Like many Poles, he loved
America and his many friends tried to convince him to stay and take political
asylum. He knew that his people would be in danger if did that: “They need me
and I need them.” So, as soon as the funeral was over, he flew back to Warsaw.
The communist regime declared a “state of war” against
the Polish people on Dec 13, 1981 and, after attacks by security forces on
factories and demonstrators, the Solidarity movement was forced underground.
Solidarity was the first independent labor union founded within the Soviet
bloc. It had over nine million members. Those workers who escaped arrest turned
up at Father Jerzy’s apartment as soon as martial law was declared. “It was
reflex,” said one worker — “when in trouble, see Jerzy.”
They came because they knew he was not afraid. On one
wall of his apartment was a huge map of Poland marking every prison camp; next
to it was a makeshift crucifix. When asked if he was afraid to have such a
thing on his wall, he answered, “It is they who are afraid.” For
Father Jerzy, his calling could be summed up in a verse from Saint Luke that he
had chosen when he was ordained. It read, “To let the oppressed go free.”
The Polish people who had heard of Father Jerzy came
from near and far to help those oppressed by the communists. People came from
distant parishes and from abroad to give him aid. While his own garments and
shoes rotted away, he cared only to provide for the needy, both Catholics and
unbelievers. In return for their generosity, the secret police persecuted his
workers and students. They followed him wherever he traveled. His apartment and
car were electronically bugged so that the secret police knew his location at
all times.
Martial law had silenced millions of Poles, but Father
Jerzy was not afraid to speak out. He began to hold special “Masses for the
Homeland” as Christmas (the celebration of which was forbidden) approached.
Many of the miners from southern Poland were so moved by the strength and
confidence of his soft voice that they proclaimed that it was the most powerful
they had ever heard. Father said openly what they really felt, but could not
say. They would rise again after any humiliation, “for you have knelt only
before God.” The regime had banned the mere mention of Solidarity, but Father
declared, “Solidarity means remaning internally free, even in conditions of
slavery: overcoming the fear that grips you by your throat.”
The “Mass for the Homeland” grew into a national
event, with people coming from all ver Poland to attend. The most famous actors
in Poland vied to take part in the readings.
Even at his Masses, security forces forces circled the
church as police tried to incite the congregation. Father’s only words were
“Overcome evil with good.” The priest received hundreds of letters of thanks
from Mass-goers, thanking him for restoring their faith. There were many conversions,
including ranking communists who dared not go to anyone else. They knew that
they could trust this priest.
Thousands of paper copies and audio cassettes were
made of his preaching and spread across Poland. Church officials had forbidden
the spread of these materials; so Father had to open his own underground print
shop. His acclaim grew so great that even the Warsaw police refused to take
part in actions against him. Men from other parts of Poland had to be brought
in to do the dirty work.
As his Masses grew in popularity, the greater became
the threats and harassment. “The most they can do is kill me,” he said.
However, when the first attempt was made on his life, he was shaken. He had
just collapsed into bed at 2 AM on the first anniversary of martial law,
exhausted from preparing Christmas gifts for the children in Warsaw’s
hospitals, when the doorbell rang. Father was too tired to get up and answer
it. A moment later, a bomb crashed into the next room, blowing out the windows
where he would have been standing.
Father was astonished at the hatred behind this
attack. He had always thought that he would be exiled to Siberia like
generations of Polish priests before him. He had even kept practicing his
Russian so that he could “preach the good word in the camps.” Now he confided
to a friend that he began to feel real fear. But nothing would separate him
from his flock, because “there is a dimension beyond fear. Arrest, torture,
even death itself are not the end of the story.” After the initial attempt on
his life, brawny steel workers guarded him around the clock — “like a treasure,
like a brother’s brother,” said one of the men.
One day a steelworker friend came to him in despair.
Under threats of blackmail, he had signed a document agreeing to become a
police informer. If he would become an informer, his friends and fellow workers
would have nothing to do with him. If not, the police would come for him. In
order to help his friend, Father told the man he would have to use his name.
The man had no choice but to agree. When the situation became public, the
police did not pursue it.
Father’s boldness enraged the authorities. Silencing
him became a top priority. The priest’s movements were being followed at the
top level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with major decisions on the case
taken by the minister himself. At special meetings with church officials the
regime demanded an end be put to Father Jerzy’s activities. Hearing that arrest
was imminent, Father’s parishioners blocked police attempts to take him away
for interrogation. Church officials reached the agreement that Father would
submit to at most an hour of questioning.
When the search party arrived at the apartment, which
was a gift from an American aunt, they “found” grenades, explosives and ammunition,
as well as leaflets calling for armed uprisings. Of course, it was the police
who planted these things so that Father would spend the second anniversary of
the uprising in jail.
Father’s friends knew that he would not last long
without his medications. The night in jail proved to be profitable. He spent
the night talking to a convicted murderer and by dawn the man had confessed. Of
course Father had no consecrated hosts on him; so he blessed a piece of prison
bread and told the man, “Next time, we shall share a meal.”
The Cardinal-Primate of Poland, Jozef Glemp, had never
been fond of Father Jerzy’s activities. He believed it was his first priority
to preserve church-state “dialogue.” He disapproved of Solidarity, interested
only in his accommodating approach as the only path to peace. For Father Jerzy,
the only path to preach was respect for human rights. Cardinal Glemp was
ordered by party magistrates to silence sixty-nine “anti-socialist” priests. It
was obvious that the Cardinal disapproved of Father’s activities. When the
Polish Pope sent Father Jerzy a crucifix and a rosary, Glemp changed his tune
and praised the young priest as an example for the Polish clergy.
John Paul II had great admiration for the young priest
for bringing together all parts of Polish society in a bold moral challenge to
communist power. Father Jerzy’s spirit cheered the Pope and gave him hope for
Poland’s eventual freedom from communist yoke. Soviet authorities, worried
about the increase in religious fervor in the homeland, forbade the young
priest and the Pope to meet with each other during the Holy Father’s trip to
Poland in 1983.
General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the Polish puppet
dictator, visited Moscow in May of 1984. Increasingly sharp attacks on Father
Jerzy and other “extremist” priests appeared in the Polish press. Wherever he
preached, death threats by phone and letter grew more numerous and alarming. To
cheer the young priest, Warsaw students had given him a little black puppy
which he promptly named “Tajniak” — Polish for “secret agent” — because it
followed him everywhere.
Thirteen interrogations in the first six months of
1984 were staged to terrorize Father. His supporters always accompanied their
priest to secret police headquarters. They waited outside, chanting hymns and
prayers until the end of the ordeal. Inside, Father sat with hands behind his
back, fingering the rosary beads that the Pope had sent him. He answered their
questions as he always had — by reciting the rosary again and again. Furious,
the agents would finally release him.
With Moscow and Warsaw turning up the heat, Father
Jerzey finally lost the support of Cardinal Glemp. At his May 1984 Mass for the
Homeland, Father made the Primate furious. Eleven top Solidarity leaders had
just rejected a deal that representatives of the Primate and the regime had
pushed them to accept: release from prison if they would drop their Solidarity
activities. Father praised the prisoners’ courage for not betraying their
ideals. When people “support the mechanisms of evil they become responsible for
their own slavery.”
From that time on, the Primate’s negotiators dealt
directly with secret police officials over Father’s silence. They reached an a
greement with the authorities to muzzle him, but could not enforce it. “If I
shut up, it means they have won” he told an Italian journalist. “To speak out
is precisely my job.” When the Cardinal spoke publicly, he hardly drew anyone.
Conversely, whenever and wherever Father Jerzy spoke, he drew the crowds.
In the summer of 1984, Church and Solidarity officials
learned of secret plans to kill one of three leading “anti state” priests,
including Father Jerzy. Several priests had already been killed in suspicious
“accidents” involving the secret police. Father Jerzy’s own car had barely
escaped a similar accident. A papal chaplain had died in a mysterious car crash
in 1982, and several other pro-Solidarity clerics narrowly escaped a similar
death. Polish Church officials chose to keep these and other killings quiet
rather than protest them.
The workers redoubled their protection of Father
Jerzy. State security cars circled the rectory and his apartment no longer was
open to the troubled and the needy. Father rarely left the apartment now and
avoided giving rides to friends, fearing that officials had sabotaged his car.
However, the Masses for the Homeland continued. In the words of one worker, “We
need it more than bread.” Father responded to the calls for violence, “You
conquer people with your open heart, not with a closed fist.”
As he grew more and more frail with each passing
month, he continued to bring aid and good cheer to Warsaw’s growing numbers of
sick and poor. One woman was surprised to see Father leaving her mother’s
apartment after bringing her Holy Communion. The daughter thought of him as a
national celebrity, while the mother knew him only as her parish priest who
visited regularly.
The sick and worried young priest hardly slept at all
any more. Many nights he awoke in a sweat. He tried to appear calm, but his
foreboding was so strong that others felt it as well. His old cheerfulness was
gone, and his friends felt that he was near the breaking point. After the usual
prayers after one Mass, Father turned to the congregation and stated, “Now I
need your prayers.
The ring was closing around our priest. He returned to
his family village, expecting the worst. He lingered in each corner of his
family home as if saying good-bye. His mother watched him walk the farm and
fields of his childhood. He was accused of holding “seances of hate” and
“sessions of political rabies” in his church. One government official added,
“Even though there is no such thing as a human soul, the struggle for power
over it is real.”
The next day at secret police headquarters, the
officers in charge of his case excitedly discussed their new orders: to go
beyond the intimidation that had failed so far. He could be pushed off a moving
train or have a “beautiful traffic accident” on the road. They could kidnap and
torture him until he revealed the information they sought. Or maybe his weak
heart would give out. The orders to eliminate him at any cost came from “the
very top.”
By early October, Church officials assured the regime
that the “Popieluszko problem” would be taken care of to their liking. The
Primate’s increasingly harsh rebukes — for endangering the interests of the
Church and worse — left Father Jerzy shattered. Friends recall seeing him
sobbing uncontrollably just after had come from a meeting with Cardinal Glemp.
The Pope watched events in Warsaw with mounting alarm.
He was afraid for Father Jerzy’s life. “One must suffer for the truth, the
priest had written. “That is why I am ready for anything.” In lieu of Cardinal
Glemp’s accommodation with the regime, the Pope sent a special blessing and crucifix
to Father Jerzy. In Rome, John Paul demanded, “Why don’t they defend him!”
It was planned that Father would be kidnapped outside
of Warsaw because of his strong worker guards there. The police tried to force
him to travel alone. His traveling bodyguard, Waldemar Chrostowski, was
interrogated many times and presured to “cease their friendship.” When he
ignored the warnings his apartment was gutted by a powerful firebomb. Even
though Waldemar was a firefighter by profession, authorities halted investigation
of the incident.
On October 9, the order was given that Father Jerzy
was to be killed without fail, but first, security agents should try to
“extract” as much information from him as possible in a wartime Nazi bunker in
the forest. Any others traveling with him would also be murdered.
On October 13, 1984, Father and his bodyguard were
returning from his last Mass for the Homeland” along with a prominent
Solidarity leader. Thanks to the bodyguard/chauffeur’s quick reflexes, they
eluded the secret police ambush. When the death squad returned to headquarters,
a superior remarked “What a pity — it could have been a bigger accident with so
many involved.”
Father Jerzy suddenly felt that an unbearable burden
had just been lifted from him. He knew the end was near. A colleague remarked,
“He went straight for what was coming to meet him.”
A few nights later, Father noticed that a secret
police car had been stationed outside his window for several hours in the icy
cold. “They must be freezing,” he told Chrostowski, and sent him down with a
message”You ‘ve been on duty for so long – Father Jerzy wants you to have a cup
of coffee.” The officers looked annoyed and turned away.
When he traveled, Father like to dress casually, but
this time he put on his priestly garments. As always, he took along the rosary,
his greatest treasure, given him by the Pope. That evening he presided at a
special Mass for the Working People at a small town in the countryside. The
topic of his sermon was “Overcome Evil with Good.” Secret agents waited
outside, wrapping their wooden clubs with rage. Father spoke his last words to
the congregation, “Most of all, may we be free from the desire for violence and
vengeance.”
Father wanted to be back at his home parish for Mass
the next morning. His friends had spotted a strange Fiat waiting outside the
church in the small town. In the car was the officer in charge of the
long-running investigation, one of the most brilliant and trusted officers in
the Polish secret police. With him were two other highly decorated officers
from the security service’s Fourth Department, responsible for religious
affairs. This was the same team that had tried to ambush the priest six days
before. These callous men had argued about selling the priest’s car for spare
parts.
Parishioners offered to escort Father Jerzy by car
back to Warsaw, but he was used to being followed and it was late. He and his
bodyguard would go alone. The secret police overtook them on a deserted road
about a half hour from the town. They held the bodyguard at gunpoint. The
captain dragged Father by the cassock to the Fiat. “What are you doing,
Gentleman? How can you treat someone like this?”
In a cold fury, the kidnappers beat him with fists and
clubs, smashing his skull and face. Unconscious, he was bound, gagged and
thrown into the trunk. As they headed for a lonely stretch of woods, the
bodyguard hurled himself from the Fiat in a desperate attempt to escape. He
made it to a nearby workers hostel and quickly raised the alarm. When they
reached the hospital emergency ward, another squad of secret police and a state
prosecutor were waiting to take him away. But for the authorities it was too
late. The bodyguard had already alerted the Church.
The secret police Fiat sped on with Father Jerzy in
the trunk The captain’s men were arguing now, and downing quick shots of vodka.
The kidnappers were so terrified that they would be identified that they wanted
to leave the priest in the woods. “No,” said another angrily, “the priest must
die.”
With the bodyguard’s escape, news of the abduction had
swept across Poland. Shock and outrage were nationwide. The parish church
overflowed with thousands of people. Every night, larger crowds came to the
Masses, praying for Father’s deliverance. Massive security forces surrounded
the Warsaw steelworks, where the men were praying at work. Throughout Poland,
there were mass meetings in factories and spontaneous prayers in schools. The
national crisis mounted. Other churchmen denounced the kidnapping, but Cardinal
Glemp refused to comment. The Holy Father declared himself “deeply shaken,”
condemning the shameful act and demanding Father Jerzy’s immediate release.
After ten days of waiting, the nation’s patience ran
raw. Authorities dispatched large security forces and imposed emergency
measures in cities and towns. The last Sunday of October, a record 50,000
people engulfed the parish church at a cold, outdoor Mass for the Homeland.
They listened to a tape of Father Jerzy’s last sermon. They hoped and prayed to
see him again.
When smiling security officers pulled the battered
corpse of Father Jerzy from a reservoir on the river Vistula, about eighty
miles from Warsaw, it was tortured beyone recognition. A sack of rocks hung
from his legs. His body had been trussed from neck to feet with a nylon rope so
that if he resisted he would strangle himself. Several gags had worked free and
lay across his clerical collar and cassock, soaked with the priest’s vomit and
blood.
Officially, Father spent less than two hours with his
kidnappers, but his torture was much too extensive and systematic to have in
inflicted in that brief time. Family members present at the autopsy described a
body covered head to foot with deep, bloody wounds and marks of torture. His
face was deformed. His eyes and forehead had been beated until black. His jaws,
nose, mouth were smashed. His face was deformed, and both hands were broken and
cut, as if the priest had been shielding it from blows. His fingers and toes
dark red and brown from the repeated clubbing. Part of his scalp and large
strips of skin on his legs had been torn off.
The autopsy showed a brain concussion and damaged
spinal cord. His muscles had been pounded again and again until limp. Internal
injuries from the beatings had left blood in his lungs. One of the doctors that
performed the post-mortem reported that in all his medical practice he had
never seen anyone mutilated internally. The kidneys and intestines were reduced
to pulp, as in others cases of prolonged police torture in Poland. When his mouth
was opened, the teeth were found completely smashed. In place of his tongue,
there was only mush.
A group of priests tried to identify the body, but
could not recognize their friend. Identification was finally made by Father’s
brother from a birthmark on the side of his chest. Making the full autopsy
report public was deemed too explosive by regime and Church officials, who
continue to suppress it. Church and independent sources familiar with the
report have said it details an even more horrifying picture suffered by the
defenseless priest.
“The worst has happened,” declared Lech Walesa,
Solidarity’s leader. In Rome, the Holy Father reacted with shock, following the
news late into the night. At the parish church in Warsaw, a priest made several
attempts to get the mourning population to say the Our Father. When he reached
“Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us” the congregation
refused to pray with him. It took several more attempts before the people would
utter that line, and when they did, they prayed it with great force.
Just as was feared, when the state trial was held for
the perpetrators, only the mid-level criminals were sentenced. Those who
masterminded the plot got off scott-free. Because they were afraid that Father
Jerzey’s final resting place would become a shrine, the state officials
pressured his parents to bury him in their distant village. The faithful
demanded a huge funeral and that he be buried in the parish cemetery. It was
the pleading of Father’s mother that he be buried at the parish church in
Warsaw.
Father’s mother had continued to wear a red shawl as
long as she believed her son was alive. Now, for the funeral, she wore her
black shawl. On the day of the funeral ten thousand steelworkers in hard hats
marched past secret police headquarters, chanting “We forgive,” “Greetings from
the underground,” and “No freedom without Solidarity.” Half a million people
filled the streets leading up to the parish church. Scattered throughout were
the forbidden Solidarity banners of factories, schools and offices from every
corner of Poland. One read “A strike at the heart of the nation,” another
proclaimed, “But they can’t kill the soul.”
Father Jerzy knew that his death would have immense
power. “Living I could not achieve it,” he once said when the danger rose. The
parish church, Saint Stanislaw’s has become a national shrine. As of the
writing of this piece by James Fox in 1985, and unending river of pilgrims flow
past Father’s grave. Great mounds of flowers are put there. Even communists
visited the grave. A thousand-man volunteer force guards the church yard in
teams around the clock.
The murder of the holy, defenseless priest emboldened
the populace and encourage many conversions and vocations. All the while the
regime continued to defame the priest.
Today, Poland, as the rest of the former Iron Curtain
countries of Europe, is a free country and a proud ally of our own country. The
enemies of Christ rule Europe no more.
***Author’s note: It was by chance that I was looking
for reading material when I happened upon this Reader’s Digest of May, 1985. I
could not sleep thinking that Father Jerzy’s story must be made widely known.
The title of the original article was “Do you hear the Bells, Father Jerzy?”
The author of the piece is John Fox.
Father Jerzy, may you rest in peace.
Father Jerzy, pray for us!
SOURCE : https://catholicism.org/the-touching-story-of-blessed-father-jerzy-popieluszko.html
Grave of Jerzy Popiełuszko in Warsaw, at St.
Stanislaus Kostka Church.
Grób Jerzego Popiełuszki przy kościele św. Stanisława Kostki w Warszawie.
Process Begins to Recognize Miracle Attributed to
Prayer of Solidarnosc Chaplain
Blessed Father Jerzy Popieluszko Believed to Have
Acted on His Birthday to Cure Man With Leukemia
SEPTEMBER 19, 2014 00:00ZENIT STAFFARCHIVES
By Milena Kindziuk*
Francis, a 56-year-old Frenchman, was about to die of
an extremely malignant type of leukemia. Since he was in his agony, his wife
was already choosing the type of coffin and organizing his funeral. However, a
miracle happened, attributed to the intercession of the martyr Father Jerzy
Popielusko. And, thanks to this miraculous healing, the process of canonization
will begin Saturday at Creteil, near Paris, of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko,
better known as the “chaplain of Solidarnosc.”
Father and Professor Jozef Naumowicz of the Catholic
University of Warsaw, notary in the process of Canonization, announced that he
will hear the witnesses in France, and he explained: “This means that the
entire process will be carried out in the French diocese and, subsequently, if
the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes, after further and careful
investigation, confirms this miracle, the Polish priest-martyr will be declared
a Saint.”
It all began in 2001, when Francis got sick. The
doctors diagnosed “chronic myeloid leukemia in a-typical form” and from the
beginning they gave him little possibilities of a cure.
It was a shock for him – he was still very young, had
a good job, a loving wife and three adolescent daughters. He wanted to live; he
was being looked after by the best haematologists and world-famous professors.
The illness did not progress rapidly because he had
long stays in hospitals, the help of chemotherapy and the abundant use of
medicine, but Francis was not being cured.
After 10 years of ever stronger treatments, his body
stopped completely. Francis fell into a coma. He was taken to the palliative
care unit where terminal patients are kept. The doctors had no more hope; all
the treatments were tried and the illness was not arrested.
His wife watched over her husband in coma. She
arranged for Francis to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
(both are believers, formed spiritually in the “Chemin Neuf” community). The
doctors told his wife that her husband was about to die and suggested that she
take care of all the formalities connected with the funeral.
“I had chosen an oak coffin –recounted his wife –
because Francis liked oak wood. At home I began to put his things in order, I
tore to pieces the letters that I once wrote to him. There will no longer be a
possibility to read them – I thought – and at the same time I felt peace within
me. I did not weep, I did not let myself be carried away by panic.”
Up to this point, it is a story that is quite common,
although tragic. Every day many people in different parts of the world suffer
and die. But for Francis it was a turnabout. Something happened as if Someone
from on high intervened to write a different scenario.
The “personalities” of this story live in France. The
Polish Sister Rozalia Michalitka, who belongs to the Congregation of the
Sisters of Saint Michael the Archangel, works in a hospital of Creteil and is
in charge of the pastoral care of the sick. She was the one who brought
Communion to Francis’ wife.
Entering the story also is French priest, Father
Bernard, a 65-year-old man, but a priest of a few months. Previously, Bernard
had not frequented the Church for 40 years. In the course of his life he was
divorced and married twice. In 2003 he had a profound conversion and,
subsequently, entered the seminary. He was ordained a priest in April of 2012.
In July he went to Poland and while there visited the tomb of Father Jerzy
Popieluszko at Warsaw. He was fascinated by this Polish martyr-priest. He
“discovered” on his tomb that he was born the same day, month and year as
Father Popieluszko: September 14, 1947. He was so fascinated by the figure of
the Blessed to the point that he always had with him his image and relics.
“I usually have these little images in my pocket to
give them to people,” he said.
Both Sister Rozalia as well as Father Bernard remember
well that Friday, September 14, 2012, “as if it was today!” they said.
According to the doctors’ estimates those were
Francis’ last hours of life. Sister Rozalia suggested to his wife that she call
a priest, but the woman explained that her husband had already received the
Sacraments, when he was still conscious, so he was ready to die.”
“Despite this – recounted the Sister – I felt
interiorly that a priest should come.”
It so happens that in the next room of the same
hospital section, a patient had died and the family had called a priest for the
Anointing of the Sick.
Sister Rozalia remembers the sequence of events. “Once
again, I went to Francis’ wife saying that a priest would come soon to our
section. And she agreed to pray together! It was almost three o’clock in the
afternoon, when a priest appeared by the bedside of the dying Francis. It was
Father Bernard, the French priest so fascinated by the life of Father
Popieluszko. In the presence of Francis’ wife and of the Sister he began to
pray for the sick man: he opened a book of prayers and found a photo of Father
Jerzy, because he always had his little images with him.
He knew that it was September 14, that is, the
anniversary of the birth of Blessed Jerzy. Then he put his image with the
relics on the bed where the moribund was lying and said: “Father Jerzy, today is
your birthday. If you can do something, do it today. Help us!”
Then he continued to pray in his own words and gave
the wife and Sister the text of the prayer for Father Jerzy’s Canonization.
Father Bernard recalls: ”Everything happened
spontaneously because I hadn’t prepared anything before, only being close to
the sick man, when I was looking for the appropriate prayer, I knew that it was
the anniversary of Father Jerzy’s birth and so I began to pray, asking for his
intercession.”
Hardly had the priest and the Sister left and the
couple remained alone, than something unexpected happened: Francis opened his
eyes and asked: “Where am I?” Then he got up and, as if nothing had happened,
he wanted to go to the bathroom alone, but all the devices to which he was
attached did not allow him to do so. His wife looked at him incredulous. She
thought it was a temporary improvement, before the end.
Obviously, neither Father Bernard nor Sister Rozalia
knew what happened after they left the patient’s room. The following day,
Saturday morning, the Sister thought of taking Communion to Francis’ room.
“I don’t know why, she said. I knew that Francis was
in an unconscious state, that his wife wouldn’t be in the room in the morning
because she had to finish the arrangements connected with the funeral and even
I had a lot of commitments, but something pushed me to go.”
She went to the hospital, entered the chapel, took the
Most Blessed Sacrament, rather instinctively, because she did not know to whom
she should give it. Then she went to the room where Francis was lying. She
opened the door and saw … the empty bed! Then she thought that perhaps the man
had died during the night. But the door of the bathroom was open and she heard
the water running from the faucet. “Francis, is it you?, she asked. “Yes,
Sister, please come back in twenty minutes, when I have finished shaving by
beard and washed myself then I will be able to have Communion.”
The Sister did not believe her ears. Surprised and
somewhat shocked, she left the room immediately. She began to ask if Francis
was really alive. She was shocked, because from the medical point of view, he
was dying and could not be cured.
After twenty minutes Sister Rozalia returned to
Francis’ room. She found him dressed, with his beard shaved, as he had said.
They prayed together and she gave him Communion.
“And in this story – says the Sister with a smile on
her face – we can see how that not only we act but God also does His part. He
intervenes through the intercession of His Saints.”
Subsequent medical examinations evidenced that there
was no trace of leukemia in Francis’ body. “Complete remission of the
sickness,” they wrote in the report
After Father Bernard’s prayer, through the
intercession of Blessed Father Jerzy Popieluszko, on Friday, around 3 pm of
September 14, 2012, when it was the Blessed martyr’s birthday, the sickness
disappeared.
Francis’ unexpected and complete cure will be
carefully examined in the process of Canonization of the Blessed Polish priest.
Canon Law states that to proclaim a Blessed a Saint
there must be a miracle confirmed through his intercession, which occurred
after his Beatification.
—
*Milena Kindziuk, Polish journalist, author of
numerous books, among which are two volumes on Father Jerzy Popieluszko.
The Article was published in Polish in the Polish
weekly “Niedziela” (“Sunday”), n. 38 of September 21, 2014.
Church of Mother of Sorrow in Poznań,
Symbolic grave of Jerzy Popiełuszko
BIBLIOGRAPHY
W języku duńskim
W języku
francuskim
W języku
hiszpańskim
32. BOYES Roger,
Moody John, (w transkrypcji) Bosatsu (= Morderstwo z premedytacją). Tłumaczenie
z angielskiego: Takeshi Mizutani, wyd. Shinchosha, Tokyo 1995 ss. 354.
W języku
niemieckim
W języku norweskim
42. SIKORSKA
Grażyna, En martyr for sannheten. Historien om Jerzy Popieluszko. Epilog:
arcybiskup Henryk Gulbinowicz, ks. Adam Boniecki, Stefan Frankiewicz i in.
Tłumaczenie: Geir Uthaug, wyd. Ansgar, Oslo 1985 ss. 166.
W języku rosyjskim
43. LEWEK Antoni,
(w transkrypcji) Nowaja swjatynja polskogo naroda. U mogiły ks. Jerzy
Popiełuszko. Fakty - sobytija - pjerspjektiwy, Warszawa 1986 ss.24.
W języku szwedzkim
44. SIKORSKA
Grażyna, Martyr för sanningen. En bok om Pater Jerzy Popieluszko, wyd. Libris,
Örebro 1989 ss. 187.
W języku
węgierskim
45. Jerzy
Popieluszko, wyd. Egyházfórum Könyvei 2, Luzern 1989.
W języku włoskim
(*) Bibliografię opracował: ks. Antoni Lewek. Została
ona opublikowana także w dwumiesięczniku "Ateneum Kapłańskie"
143(2004) z. 3 s. 536-550.
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20070208043438/http://www.popieluszko.net.pl/xJerzy/biblobc.htm
Obraz beatyfikacyjny Jerzy Popiełuszko Malował
Zbigniew Kotyłło Obraz wyłoniony drogą konkursu. Brał udział w uroczystościach
beatyfikacyjnych Ks. Jerzego. Obecnie Światynia Opatrzności Bożej w Warszawie.
Beato Giorgio (Jerzy) Popieluszko Sacerdote e
martire
Okopy, Polonia, 14 settembre 1947 - Wloclawek, Polonia,
19 ottobre 1984
Don Jerzy Popieluszko nacque il 14 settembre 1947 a Okopy provincia di Bialystok. Fu ordinato sacerdote dal cardinal Stefan Wyszynsky il 28 maggio 1972 a Varsavia. Destinato alla parrocchia di San Stanislao Kostka, oltre al lavoro parrocchiale, svolgeva il suo ministero tra gli operai organizzando conferenze, incontri di preghiera anche per medici ed infermieri, assisteva gli ammalati, i poveri, i perseguitati e insieme a Don Teofilo Bogucki eseguiva celebrazioni mensili di Sante Messe con predica per la Patria. Il 19 ottobre 1984 di ritorno da un servizio pastorale da Bydgosszcz a Gorsk vicino a Torun è stato rapito da tre funzionari del Ministero dell’Interno e assassinato. La sua tomba, che si trova accanto la chiesa di San Stanislao Kostka a Varsavia, è meta continua di pellegrinaggi di fedeli provenienti dalla Polonia e dal mondo intero.
Il 14 giugno 1987 papa Giovanni Paolo II ha pregato sulla tomba di Padre Jerzy.
Il 6 giugno 2010 è stato beatificato sotto il pontificato di Benedetto XVI.
Già a 19 anni lo accusano di “atteggiamento ribelle”:
benché seminarista, gli hanno fatto il militare con lo scopo di “fargli
cambiare idea”, ma nonostante il continuo lavaggio del cervello non sono
riusciti a piegare quel ragazzo, taciturno e serio, che fin da ragazzo vuole
farsi prete e che non ha cambiato idea neppure dopo le angherie e le pressioni
subite sotto naia. Nato in Polonia nel 1947, viene ordinato prete nel 1972 dal
card. Wyszyński e sembra quasi un segno del destino, visto che tra un po’
saranno entrambi alla gloria degli altari. Per alcuni anni vaga da una
parrocchia all’altra di Varsavia, con incarichi temporanei che tuttavia
“lasciano il segno”, soprattutto tra gli universitari: sembra che quel prete,
timido e di poche parole, con una salute vacillante che lo limita anche nel
ministero, si riscaldi improvvisamente e si trasformi quando si trova a
contatto con giovani e poveri, con cui riesce a stabilire subito un filo diretto.
Nel giugno 1980 viene assegnato come sacerdote residente alla parrocchia di san
Stanislao Kostka, sul cui territorio si trova la grande acciaieria “Huta
Warszawa”. Il 28 agosto il primate di Polonia gli chiede di andare dagli operai
in sciopero che chiedono un sacerdote per la Messa: diventa così il cappellano
di Solidarnosc della Huta. Oltre al lavoro parrocchiale si trova dunque a
lavorare tra gli operai organizzando conferenze, incontri di preghiera,
assistendo ammalati, poveri, perseguitati. Insieme al suo parroco inizia a
celebrare ogni mese una Messa per la patria, che raccoglie migliaia di persone:
operai, intellettuali, artisti e anche persone lontane dalla fede. È
questo suo andare “verso le periferie” ed il suo trasformarsi in “ponte” con tutte
le categorie di persone a far crescere il sospetto delle autorità nei suoi
confronti. Minacce più o meno velate al suo indirizzo, addirittura un esplosivo
gettatogli in camera, obbligano gli operai a procurargli una spontanea e
volontaria scorta che lo accompagna nei suoi vari spostamenti. Padre Jerzy sa
benissimo di essere spiato in ogni movimento ed in ogni suo discorso: agenti
segreti si celano tra quanti ascoltano le sue prediche e addirittura tra i suoi
più stretti collaboratori: un sacerdote e quattro laici a lui molto vicini
risulteranno essere informatori della polizia. Eppure non una sua sola parola,
e neppure un suo gesto, risulteranno incitazione alla violenza: nelle sue
omelie si limita a chiedere il ripristino delle libertà civili e di Solidarnosc.
“Poiché ci è stata tolta la libertà di parola, ascoltiamo la voce del nostro
cuore e della nostra coscienza a vivere nella verità dei figli di Dio, non
nella menzogna imposta dal regime”, ripete senza stancarsi. E non conclude mai
le “Messe per la patria” senza chiedere ai fedeli di pregare “per coloro che
sono venuti qui per dovere professionale”, mettendo così in imbarazzo gli
spioni del servizio di sicurezza che stanno registrando le sue parole. Temuto
dalle autorità per l’ascendente che esercita sul popolo, viene arrestato due
volte nel 1983 e nella prima metà del 1984, interrogato tredici volte dalla
polizia, sottoposto a continua sorveglianza, al punto che il cardinale Glemp
gli propone di “cambiare aria” e di trasferirsi per studio a Roma. Si rifiuta,
pur sapendo a cosa sta andando incontro e malgrado un incidente stradale,
organizzato per farlo fuori, dal quale esce fortunosamente incolume. Durante
l’ultima celebrazione religiosa del 19 ottobre 1984 invita a “chiedere di
essere liberi dalla paura, dal terrore, ma soprattutto dal desiderio di
vendetta. Dobbiamo vincere il male con il bene e mantenere intatta la nostra
dignità di uomini, per questo non possiamo fare uso della violenza”. Alcune ore
dopo viene sequestrato da tre ufficiali del servizio di sicurezza: lo
ritroveranno “incaprettato”, il successivo 30 ottobre nel lago di Wloclawek e
scopriranno che gli hanno maciullato la mandibola e sfondato il cranio a
manganellate. “Infondeva coraggio ai fedeli, non sobillava rivoluzioni”,
afferma il vescovo di Varsavia, riconoscendo che non ha “mai oltrepassato
le sue competenze di sacerdote e neppure ridotto la Chiesa e il suo messaggio a
strumento di lotta politica”. La gente lo aveva già capito da un pezzo: sia il
mezzo milione di persone che hanno partecipato al suo funerale, sia i 18
milioni che in questi anni sono sfilate davanti alla sua tomba. Ora anche la
Chiesa lo ha riconosciuto ufficialmente, proclamando beato Padre Jerzy
Popiełuszko nel 2010, alla presenza della sua anziana mamma.
Autore: Gianpiero Pettiti
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Marsz Niepodległości 2019. Warszawa, Rondo Dmowskiego.
A vent’anni, lo chiamarono a prestare servizio militare. Dovunque, ma ancora più sotto i comunisti, è un’esperienza delle più dure. Non era facile, tuttavia, piegare alla volontà altrui un giovane come Jerzy. Nella caserma di Bartoszyce si distinse per il coraggio della sua fede e della sua testimonianza. Un giorno, un ufficiale lo vide con il rosario tra le mani, mentre pregava la Madonna. Lo derise, lo rimproverò, lo minacciò: «Buttalo a terra e calpestalo. Se non schiaccerai quello strumento, io schiaccerò te». Jerzy si rifiutò. Fu percosso duramente e rinchiuso per un mese in cella di punizione. Non si piegò, anzi la sua fede, come quella dei suoi amici cattolici – molti erano seminaristi –, né uscì più ardente, più gagliarda.
Già, nel 1965, era entrato nel seminario di Varsavia, quando da noi, nell’Occidente libero e assetato spesso solo di piacere, i seminari cominciavano a svuotarsi (oggi sono vuoti), i martiri dell’Est Europa continuavano a testimoniare Cristo, e i giovani di quelle terre oppresse dal comunismo numerosi salivano l’altare come sacerdoti di Cristo! Nel 1972, don Jerzy Popielusko, con il cuore in festa, era consacrato sacerdote dal cardinal Wynszynski. Da quel giorno, 28 maggio 1972, non ebbe altro sogno che quello di identificarsi con Gesù Sacerdote per la gloria di Dio e la salvezza dei fratelli.
Fu destinato alla parrocchia di Zabki, un quartiere periferico di Varsavia, poi alla parrocchia del Bambino Gesù di Zoliborz, dove un giorno era passato anche san Stanislao Kostka; poi ancora alla parrocchia universitaria di Sant’Anna. Infine don Jerzy si ammalò. Dopo una lunga degenza all’ospedale, il cardinal Wyszynski lo destinava alla pastorale degli ospedali nella sua arcidiocesi. Fragile nel fisico, don Jerzy non si arrendeva mai: sempre sulla breccia, mobilitato da Gesù, sempre con una nuova iniziativa di evangelizzazione e di carità. Sentiva ciò che noi spesso non sentiamo più: di dover moltiplicare talenti ed energie per portare Gesù ai fratelli, a questo povero mondo.
Nello stesso tempo, lavorava a Varsavia, nella parrocchia di San Stanislao: né parroco né viceparroco, aiutava nelle Confessioni, nelle omelie, visitava i malati. Era a suo agio con tutti e sapeva mettere a proprio agio tutti. Studiava, pregava, parlava con tutti, sempre attento ai fatti della sua terra, della Chiesa, in Polonia e nel mondo.
Il 16 ottobre 1978, festa di santa Edvige, regina della Polonia, mentre il sole tramontava, una notizia folgorante giunse a Varsavia: il cardinal Karol Wojtyla, arcivescovo di Cracovia, era stato eletto papa, con il nome di Giovanni Paolo II: “Jan Pawel”! Il 22 ottobre, domenica piena di sole, il giovane Pontefice aveva gridato al mondo: «Aprite, anzi spalancate le porte a Cristo! Permettete a Cristo di parlare all’uomo. Lui solo ha parole di vita, sì, di vita eterna!».
Noi, gente dell’Occidente, abbiamo visto con stupore quegli operai in sciopero, raccolti attorno ai loro preti in preghiera, in ginocchio a confessare i loro peccati, stretti intorno al crocifisso, appeso ai cancelli dei cantieri di Lenin! Era una nuova “rivoluzione proletaria” – quella vera – che rifiutava il comunismo ateo e oppressore dell’uomo, perché essa scaturiva dal Cuore del “divino Operaio” di Nazareth, Gesù, Liberatore unico dell’uomo dal peccato e dalla morte e Datore della vita divina, la vera Vita.
Era difficile la missione di don Jerzy tra gli operai in quel momento storico, ma egli non si arrese, neppure dopo il 13 dicembre 1981, giorno del “colpo di stato” del generale Jaruzelski, quando la Polonia sembrò precipitare di nuovo nel più cupo inverno, per causa di coloro che a parole sono il partito operaio, ma in pratica sparano con i fucili alla schiena degli operai, come avvenne proprio in Polonia nel dicembre 1970! Ma è nell’ora difficile che la testimonianza non solo è possibile, ma è più splendida: essa è martirio e al martirio spesso conduce. Così aveva insegnato Gesù.
Nel febbraio 1982, nella parrocchia di San Stanislao, toccò a don Jerzy continuare la celebrazione della Messa mensile “per la patria”, alla quale prese a partecipare presto tanta gente. I primi furono gli operai di Huta Warszawa, poi non si poté più dire da dove venisse tanta gente. Don Jerzy parlava chiaro: «Tutto ciò che è grande e bello nasce dalla sofferenza, dal dolore, dalle lacrime e dal sangue del 1970 [anno dell’insurrezione di dicembre, repressa dai comunisti con numerosi morti], è sorto un nuovo impeto patriottico» (giugno 1982). «Il fondamento della nostra servitù sta nel fatto che accettiamo ancora il dominio della menzogna, che non la smascheriamo e non protestiamo ogni giorno contro di essa. Il coraggio di testimoniare la Verità è la via maestra che conduce alla libertà» (ottobre 1982).
Ci furono delle provocazioni. Si tentò di trasformare le riunioni di preghiera in manifestazioni politiche. Non riuscirono. Una parola di don Jerzy bastava. Un giorno una mano cattiva buttò un sasso nella camera di don Jerzy: da qual momento gli operai si prestarono a fargli da guardie del corpo. Nel 1983 si tentò di incarcerarlo, ma non ci riuscirono, tutto era limpido in lui.
Benché fragile di salute, don Jerzy era instancabile, mobilitato dentro dalla sua grande affezione a Gesù e sostenuto dalla Madonna: popolarissimo in tutta la Polonia, lo chiamavano da ogni lato a parlare di Gesù con la sua parola divina, convinta, calda, suadente... ma uno come lui, come i martiri antichi, doveva essere tolto di mezzo.
Il 19 ottobre 1984, in viaggio a Bydgoszcz. Nella notte fonda, in un luogo dove la strada passava in un bosco, “alcuni” lo rapirono con mano sacrilega. Quello che capitò a don Jerzy, lo rivela il suo corpo martoriato, ritrovato nelle gelide acque del lago Wlockawek: lividi terribili dappertutto, le mani coperte di ferite, la bocca maciullata, il cuoio capelluto strappato, il ventre dilaniato. Tutto simile al Martire divino del Calvario e ai martiri dilaniati dalle belve nel circo dei primi secoli cristiani.
Dal 3 novembre 1984, don Jerzy Popielusko riposa nella chiesa della sua parrocchia, presso l’altare dove ogni giorno innalzava al cielo Gesù Vittima d’amore: ostia con Gesù-Ostia. I suoi assassini, arrestati poco dopo, furono condannati ad alcuni anni di carcere. Nell’aula del tribunale, la sua mamma si alzò a chiedere una cosa sola ai giudici: «Abbiate pietà di coloro che hanno ucciso mio figlio. Lui farebbe così» (solo la Chiesa Cattolica ha persone come don Jerzy e sua madre!).
Il 6 giugno 2010 la Chiesa ha elevato con la solenne beatificazione il martire don Jerzy Popielusko, di 37 anni appena, alla gloria degli altari. Che il suo sangue, intriso di fedeltà alla Verità, di dedizione totale a Gesù e alla sua Chiesa, spinga molti giovani d’oggi a fare di se stessi un’offerta viva, un sacrificio di amore a Colui per il quale più che mai vale donare la vita.
Note: Per approfondire: www.popieluszko.net.pl
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91720
Izba pamięci księdza Jerzego Popieluszki w Suchowoli
Memory room (a small museum) of Jerzy Popiełuszko,
Suchowola, Poland
Marianna Popiełuszko racconta il martirio di don Jerzy
(Prima parte)
La fede profonda di una donna che ha visto suo figlio
morire per Cristo
Varsavia, 06 Marzo 2013 (Zenit.org) Wlodzimierz
Redzioch | 604 hits
Si racconta che quando Giovanni Paolo II andò a
pregare sulla sua tomba disse: “Come Cristo il suo sangue ha salvato l’Europa”.
Stiamo parlando di Jerzy Popiełuszko, il beato sacerdote polacco che
sapeva fare solo opere di bene.
La sua vicenda è esemplare: ha predicato e testimoniato
il bene fino a quando due sicari del regime comunista non l’hanno torturato e
ucciso selvaggiamente.
Per conoscere meglio la storia e le caratteristiche di
questo santo moderno, Włodzimierz Rędzioch ha intervistato la mamma
Marianna.
Una parte di questa intervista è stata pubblicata
su L’Osservatore Romano del 5 marzo. ZENIT la pubblica per intero.
***
Marianna ha gli occhi stanchi: stanchi dei suoi 92
anni; stanchi di più di 70 anni del duro lavoro in campagna e in casa; stanchi
delle lacrime versate per i suoi morti (durante la seconda guerra mondiale i
russi ammazzarono il più piccolo dei suoi fratelli; nel 1953 morì tra le sue
braccia la figlioletta Edvige di due anni; nel 1984 i servizi segreti del
regime comunista polacco fecero morire suo figlio sacerdote; morì
improvvisamente anche la sua giovane nuora, lasciando orfani tre bambini per i
quali divenne la seconda mamma; nel 2002 morì, dopo 60 anni di matrimonio,
anche suo marito). Ma negli occhi di questa donna minuta e apparentemente
fragile, ma forte di spirito, non c’è disperazione, al contrario ci sono la
pace e la serenità che vengono dalla convinzione che “le gioie e le sofferenze
vengono da Dio e Dio sa che cosa è meglio per ogni uomo”.
Malgrado la sua età non ha neanche paura della morte
perché con la morte “la vita non finisce ma si trasforma”.
Una donna semplice, che ha svolto il mestiere di
contadina per tutta la sua esistenza e ha affrontato i problemi e drammi
personali con la straordinaria saggezza evangelica che le veniva da una fede
vissuta profondamente.
Marianna ha vissuto come se avesse preso per motto
della sua esistenza una filastrocca conosciuta e ripetuta dall’infanzia: “Amare
la gente, amare Dio: ecco la strada dritta per il paradiso. Ama con il cuore e
con le opere: sarai con gli angeli nel paradiso” (in polacco questi versi fanno
rima).
Per incontrare questa anziana donna – oggi nota come
madre del beato p. Jerzy Popiełuszko – sono andato in un remoto angolo del
Nord-Est della Polonia, vicino alla frontiera con la Lituania, a circa 200
chilometri da Varsavia.
Marianna Gniedziejko – questo era il suo cognome da
nubile - è nata lì, nel lontano 1920, a Grodzisko, un piccolo villaggio della
sconfinata pianura del centro dell’Europa che, secoli fa, fu coperta dalla
grande foresta che si estendeva dalla Germania alla Russia (i cartografi hanno
calcolato che proprio qui si trova il centro geografico del nostro continente).
I Gniedziejko erano una famiglia molto religiosa,
attaccata alla Chiesa e alle tradizioni, e patriottica: lo zio di Marianna,
Rafał Kalinowski - condannato dal regime zarista al confine in Siberia, si fece
carmelitano scalzo - è stato beatificato nel 1983 e canonizzato nel 1991
(perciò p. Jerzy diceva: “Abbiamo un santo in famiglia”).
Ogni aspetto della vita quotidiana era legato alla
preghiera o a qualche cerimonia religiosa. Marianna, anche quando frequentava
la scuola elementare, doveva aiutare la famiglia, lavorando in campagna. Da
piccola si ammalò di tifo e per curarla i genitori dovettero vendere una mucca;
per la famiglia fu un grosso sacrificio.
Oggi scherza, che da allora non si ammala più e non
frequenta i medici. Nel 1942 sposò Władysław Popiełuszko, un uomo bello ed
alto, di dieci anni più grande di lei e andò ad abitare a casa sua nel vicino
villaggio di Okopy. La famiglia di Popiełuszko era una famiglia di agricoltori
(avevano 17 ettari di terreno). Purtroppo, quando finì la guerra e si instaurò
il regime comunista, la vita dei contadini che lavoravano sulla propria terra
non fu facile: i comunisti costringevano ogni famiglia a cedere allo Stato una
parte del raccolto, perciò – spiega Marianna – i Popiełuszko non soffrirono di
fame ma dovettero ridurre le loro esigenze al minimo.
Nella casa paterna ad Okopy è nato nel 1947 il loro
terzo figlio, il futuro beato (prima era la figlia Teresa, secondo il figlio
Józef). La mia conversazione con la signora Marianna comincia proprio con
questo
ricordo.
Si ricorda come è nato don Jerzy?
Marianna Popiełuszko: Ovviamente mi ricordo. Il parto
cominciò quando la sera del 14 settembre – era la domenica dell’Esaltazione
della Croce - sono andata a mungere le mucche. Sono riuscita a tornare a casa
dove fortunatamente si trovava mia madre che era arrivata in previsione del
parto. Lo stesso parto non fu difficile ma in conseguenza di esso ebbi forti
dolori alla testa e per qualche giorno persi la vista. Per questo motivo non
potei andare in chiesa per il suo battesimo.
Nel libro dei battesimi della parrocchia di Suchowola,
si vede che il futuro p. Jerzy ha ottenuto al battesimo il nome Alfons...
Marianna Popiełuszko: Ho scelto io questo nome per
lui. Ogni volta, quando ero incinta, iniziavo a cercare i nomi per il bambino
per fargli avere un buon santo patrono. Ho scelto questo nome a maggio, quando
a casa lessi qualche cosa sulla vita del sacerdote Sant’Alfonso Maria de’
Liguori. Mio figlio ha usato questo nome fino ai primi anni del seminario;
invece a casa lo chiamavamo affettuosamente Alek.
Perché suo figlio, da seminarista, ha cambiato il suo
nome in Jerzy (Giorgio)?
Marianna Popiełuszko: A Varsavia, dove studiava, il
nome “Alfons” era una brutta parola, significava "pappone" e veniva
utilizzata per descrivere una persona che si occupa di sfruttamento della
prostituzione. Così, con il permesso dei superiori del seminario, mio figlio
cambiò il suo nome in Jerzy. Io non ho protestato perché ormai era adulto.
Torniamo all'infanzia. Come era Alek da giovane?
Marianna Popiełuszko: Era un bambino esile e delicato.
Non ho avuto problemi con lui perché era obbediente, laborioso e paziente. Gli
piaceva stare con la gente ed era aperto. Preferiva leggere piuttosto che
lavorare nei campi (i nostri figli andavano a scuola e dovevano fare i compiti,
ma ci aiutavano anche in campagna). A scuola era un bravo studente e riceveva
dei premi. Una volta il parroco mi disse: “Questo ragazzo può diventare molto
buono o molto cattivo: tutto dipenderà dall’educazione che riceverà”. Allora
feci di tutto per educarlo nel modo migliore. Ma la cosa più importante nella
vita è dare e far conoscere Dio ai figli.
Come è nata la sua vocazione al sacerdozio?
Marianna Popiełuszko: Siamo una famiglia molto
religiosa. Da noi ogni mattina, dopo il risveglio, e la sera, prima di andare a
dormire, si pregava in ginocchio. Inoltre, nella nostra casa, avevamo un
altarino dove pregava tutta la famiglia. Ogni Mercoledì si pregava la Madonna
del Perpetuo Soccorso, il Venerdì il Santissimo Cuore di Gesù, il Sabato la
Madonna di Czestochowa. Nel mese di maggio cantavamo le Litanie di Loreto, nel
mese di giugno le Litanie del Sacro Cuore di Gesù, nel mese di luglio le
litanie al Sacro Sangue di Cristo, e nel mese di ottobre si recitava il
Rosario. Tre volte la settimana - Mercoledì, Venerdì e Sabato – cucinavo i
pasti senza carne, perché l'uomo, già da bambino, deve sapere che nella vita
c’è bisogno di sacrificio e che non tutto va secondo i suoi desideri o
capricci. Alek cresceva in tale atmosfera, ma sapevo che lui stesso si
controllava. Andava a confessarsi e faceva la santa Comunione; pregava anche da
solo. Più tardi divenne un chierichetto: tutti i giorni si alzava presto per
arrivare in chiesa per le sette e doveva fare cinque chilometri a piedi
attraverso il bosco per arrivare a Suchowola. Non importava se pioveva,
nevicava e c’era il gelo. E così è stato dalla prima classe della scuola
elementare fino all'ultimo anno del liceo.
[La seconda parte dell’intervista a Marianna
Popiełuszko sarà pubblicata domani, giovedì 7 marzo]
(06 Marzo 2013) © Innovative Media Inc
Statue of Jerzy Popiełuszko in Opole plac katedralny
Voir aussi : https://catholicexchange.com/martyrdom-bl-jerzy-popieluszko
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/fr-jerzy-popieluzsko-poland-long-road/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/30/newsid_4111000/4111722.stm
