Tribute to Solidarity priest killed by communists
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
04.01.2019 08:00
An exhibition has opened in Warsaw about Jerzy Popiełuszko, a charismatic Catholic priest and supporter of the Solidarity trade union movement who was killed by communist secret police in the 1980s.
Jerzy Popiełuszko. Photo: [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The exhibition at the Dobre Miejsce Catholic Culture Centre has been put together by Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance and runs until the end of January.
The head of the centre, Father Paweł Walkiewicz, has said the exhibition shows a man who did not make compromises with evil.
Popiełuszko strongly supported Poland’s Solidarity trade union in the 1980s, serving as chaplain to workers at a Warsaw steel mill in 1980 and 1981.
During martial law, he celebrated monthly "Masses for the Homeland" that attracted tens of thousands.
In his homilies, he condemned violations of human rights and called for freedom and dignity of working people.
In 1984, he was abducted, tortured and murdered by communist secret police officers. He has since been recognised as a martyr by the Roman Catholic Church and was beatified in 2010.
(pk/gs)
Source: IAR
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