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30th anniversary of 'Solidarity priest' murder

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 19.10.2014 10:16
PM Ewa Kopacz has laid flowers and lit a candle at the grave of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko on the 30th anniversary on Sunday of his murder by communist secret services officers.

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Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz at the grave of Jerzy Popiełuszko on Sunday morning at the St Stanislaus Kostki church in northern Warsaw: photo - PAP/Paweł Supernak

Father Popiełuszko, who was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 2010 – a major step towards sainthood – was beaten to death by three members of the communist secret services on 19 October 1984 his body was then dumped into the Vistula Water Reservoir near Włocławek, north of the Polish capital.

The murder of the priest, who was a prominent member of the anti-communist opposition, caused uproar in Poland and his funeral on 3 November 1984 was attended by up to 250,000, including Solidarity trade union leader Lech Walesa.

The priest’s killers - Captain Grzegorz Piotrowski, Leszek Pękala and Waldemar Chmielewski of the communist Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (SB) - were tried and imprisoned for the murders, though later pardoned in an amnesty.

Jerzy Popiełuszko's murder was featured in director Agnieszka Holland's 1988 movie starring Tim Roth, 'To kill a priest'. (pg)

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