Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko: My friend and classmate
Twenty-six years ago, on October 19, 1984, a frail, young priest was savagely beaten and drowned by government security agents in the woods of rural Poland. The brutal death of this holy priest, carried out in the dark of night, captured the attention of the world, and his martyrdom is increasingly seen as a sacrifice leading not only to the resurrection of his own country as a free and independent nation of Christian people, but a bloody sacrifice redeeming all enslaved European peoples from the Baltic to the Urals.
The Servant of God, John Paul II, on learning of his death said: “May good arise from this death like the Resurrection from the Cross”.
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko was born in 1947 on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, in the village of Okopy in North Eastern Poland and was baptized two days later. His parents were farmers and devout Catholics, and he, like most young Poles, grew up with a profound love for the Church and a mystical love for a country whose history, culture, music and literature are one with the Church.
But it was also a time when the Church’s very existence in Poland was challenged; first with naked terror in the fifties, when Cardinal Wyszynski was arrested in 1953 and imprisoned for three years this was followed by unrelenting administrative pressure in the 1960’s. The Church as an institution survived in Poland, unlike other countries of the communist bloc where it had been successfully marginalized. The Catholic Church with 95% of the total population of Poland has always played an important role in the struggle for freedom and human dignity against oppressive systems. Throughout its struggle, since the end of the war, the Church had drawn attention to the values of human dignity and freedom.
As a high school student, Blessed Jerzy kept secret his intention to become a priest for fear that the results of his examinations would be altered if his secret were known.
In 1965 he entered the Major Seminary of Warsaw, the year prior to the Church’s celebration of its first millennium, but which also was a period of heightened anti-church campaign and worst church-state relations since the early 1950s. In response to the festivities, the government taxed churches and seminaries, and severely restricted foreign travel for clergy.
After a year in the seminary, however, as part of the government’s campaign against the Church, he was drafted into the Army. Serving in an indoctrination unit in Bartoszyce, Blessed Jerzy came to know in his own body the evil of a godless state. He would defy the army authorities boldly for which he was severely punished. These repeated punishments were endured quietly and bravely, but had a long-term effect on his health.
In 1968 he resumed his seminary studies and joined my class (I had entered in 1966) and for the next four years we continued together our preparation for the priesthood.
How do I remember him? I remember him as being an amiable, sociable, kind and naturally good person. He was seen as ordinary, frail, and “not spectacular”. We were both ordained with 29 other deacons by the Servant of God, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski on May 28, 1972. By 1978 his army punishments were taking a toll and he collapsed while saying Mass. To assist his recovery, Jerzy was assigned to the University Church of St. Anne where he served as chaplain to health care personnel, primarily nurses and eventually became the chaplain to the medical profession of Warsaw.
Photo from Ordination to the Diaconate in 1971. On the left, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, second on right, Fr. Jan Kolodynski.
In May 1980 he was transferred to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Warsaw as a resident. August of the same year, saw the birth of Solidarity, the first free trade union in the Soviet Empire, as a result of strikes by workers in shipyards in Gdansk. For the first time under a communist regime, all levels of the population were united in a free trade union which numbered 10 million members. It confronted the existing powers. Solidarity can be properly understood only in the context of the role of the Church and religion in the history and life of Poland. The Solidarity movement was in essence a “moral revolution” started above all in response to the violation of human dignity and rights.
Solidarity aimed at long term social change without resorting to violence. Workers from the Warsaw Steel plant, who were on strike in support of the shipyards in Gdansk, sent a delegation to Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski requesting that a priest say Mass for them. The priest who was available at the parish was Blessed Popieluszko. He stayed with the workers night and day, heard confessions, celebrated Mass. It was here that the bond between Blessed Jerzy and the workers was forged. Later he was chosen by the workers as their chaplain at the plant. It was also during these years when the “not so spectacular seminary student” found his voice, acquired a new eloquence and charisma, and became the spiritual foundation for a peaceful revolution that would eventually change the world. In uniting himself totally with the persecuted, suffering, faithful people of Poland, Blessed Jerzy united himself with the suffering of Christ that continues through His Mystical Body. His priesthood took on new meaning and he became, as never before, an alter Christus in the eyes of the people he served.
Significant, even prophetic, is the text taken from Isaiah that he had chosen for his ordination card: “The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the broken hearted.”
Blessed Popieluszko became increasingly involved in the activities of the steel workers and remained a source of moral and spiritual support to them throughout the solidarity era, which came to an end with the announcement of martial law on December 13th, 1981. Solidarity was banned and thousands of its member and supporters were imprisoned. But Blessed Jerzy continued to be very close to the workers and he believed this to be his duty as a priest. He attended several political trials connected with the action taken by the steel workers in the summer of 1980. His was the conviction that the Church cannot be neutral in the face of injustice but the defender of the oppressed.
Martial Law
After the imposition of martial law, in February 1982 at the request of his pastor, Father Teofil Bogucki, Blessed Jerzy began a monthly “Mass for Poland and for those suffering for her” that was attended by tens of thousands of people . His message echoed that of the great Polish Pope in Rome: “Evil overcome it with good,” he implored. He also made clear that people of faith have a moral duty to resist evil, asking, “Whose side will you take? The side of good or the side of evil? Truth or falsehood? Love or hatred?"
Blessed Popieluszko asked the people “to include God in the difficult and powerful problems of the country” and he rebuked “the abuse of human rights and freedom of conscience." Like so many of Poland’s great freedom fighters, he compared the sufferings of Poland to those of Christ: “The trial of Jesus goes on forever. It continues through his brothers and sisters. Only their names, their faces, their dates, and their birth places change.” Like the Pope he loved, Jerzy knew that fear lay at the root of his country’s enslavement. He said, “If truth becomes for us a value, worthy of suffering and risk, then we shall overcome fear – the direct reason for our enslavement."
Blessed Jerzy always took note of the large issues involved in this struggle of State versus people such as the nature of authority and government, justice and the fundamental human right to freedom. He believed that the root cause of the problems of Poland was the exclusion of God from its socio-political life. The basic Christian truth is that the authorities should serve the people whom they govern. His sermon frequently mentioned that freedom is God-given and therefore any enslavement of freedom is to work against God.
No violence but Solidarity
His sermons expressed his stand against revenge and use of violence and a desire to pray not only for those who are oppressed but also for those who oppress the people. As a staunch supporter of Solidarity he referred to it as the ‘patriotic struggle to reinstate human dignity. The essence of Blessed Jerzy’s vision of freedom is the concept of solidarity of hearts, which was first introduced to the Poles by Pope John Paul. He strongly challenged his hearers to show care and love for those who suffer innocently. He says, “Let us pray to God to fill us with the power of his spirit, to reawaken the spirit of true solidarity in our hearts.”
Michael Kaufman, the New York Times’ Warsaw Bureau Chief recognized the courage, audacity and importance of Blessed Popieluszko’s message when he wrote:
“Nowhere else from East Berlin to Vladivostok could anyone stand before ten or fifteen thousand people and use a microphone to condemn the errors of state and party. Nowhere, in that vast stretch encompassing some four hundred million people, was anyone else openly telling a crowd that defiance of authority was an obligation of the heart, of religion, manhood, and nationhood.”
Among the tens of thousands of Poles listening to the voice of the brave, young priest were government agents who recognized that their position and privilege were threatened by the truth being powerfully proclaimed. In 1983 the persecution of Blessed Popieluszko became routine. He was frequently called to police headquarters for interrogations, spent many nights in prison, his car was vandalized, his apartment was broken into, and the authorities even planted subversive literature and bomb making materials in his apartment.
On October 13, 1984 there was an unsuccessful attempt on his life. Blessed Jerzy and his driver were travelling the Gdansk-Warsaw road when something was thrown at his car that would have caused it to crash. The driver swerved the car and avoided what could have been a fatal “accident”. On one occasion I recall his saying: “I am convinced that what I am doing is just, that is why I am ready for everything”.
Despite warnings that there could be “serious consequences” if he preached in the northern town of Bydgoszcz a week later on October 19, 1984, he celebrated Mass and also led the people in a meditation on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. His conclusion to the reflections were his last public words:
"In order to defeat evil with good, in order to preserve the dignity of man, one must not use violence. It is the person who has failed to win on the strength of his heart and his reason who tries to win by force… Let us pray that we may be free from fear and intimidation, but above all from lust for revenge and violence."
Government security agents who are believed to have been in that congregation followed the priest and his driver for about an hour on the return journey to Warsaw. On a lonely stretch of road they stopped the car, arrested, gagged and bound the driver and put him in the unmarked police car. The driver managed to escape and reported the incident to the local priest and to church authorities.
The ‘police’ beat him senseless with clubs and their fists and threw him into the trunk of their car and drove off. Blessed Jerzy recovered consciousness and began to shout and bang on the trunk of the car. They stopped to gag him but Blessed Jerzy managed to escape. He was recaptured and again beaten with clubs. A second time he regained consciousness and this time the officers tied him with ropes around his neck and ankles in such a way that if he moved his feet, the rope would tighten around his neck. They also stuffed his mouth with material and secured it with sticking plaster, which also covered his nose thus restricting his breathing even more. The senior officer ordered that stones should be tied to his feet and returned him to the trunk of the car. They then drove to a reservoir on the Vistula River where they removed Blessed Jerzy from the trunk and threw him into the water. Forensic experts later stated that at this point he may have still been alive.
The body of Blessed Popieluszko was retrieved ten days later from the Wloclawek Reservoir. The body was covered with deep wounds. His face was unrecognizable, his jaw, nose, mouth and skull were smashed. He was identified by his brother from a birthmark to the side of his chest. One of the doctors who performed the post mortem said that he had never seen such violent injuries. There was blood in his lungs and his kidneys and intestines were reduced to pulp.
The funeral of Blessed Popieluszko was attended by a million people. Pope John Paul II and leaders from throughout the world have prayed at his grave. On February 8, 1997 his cause for beatification was introduced. It was concluded on the diocesan level in 2001. To date 18 million people have prayed at his grave including many heads of state. On December 19, Pope Benedict signed a decree recognizing the martyrdom of Servant of God, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko.
Blessed Popieluszko freely admitted that he had reason to fear for his life and on one occasion he had said, “if I must die suddenly, it is surely better to meet death defending a worthwhile cause than sitting back and letting injustice win.” Blessed Popieluszko was an ordinary Catholic priest but who sacrificed his life for the cause of human dignity and freedom. He was with the people when they were degraded, ill-treated and repressed. He was the voice of those who longed for freedom. His faith in God made him identify himself with the struggling masses. He recognized that the way to liberation is through courageously witnessing to the truth and through overcoming fear. It was his conviction that there is meaning in suffering for truth and even sacrificing one’s life for it. He stroved for human liberation in a given existential situation. In him, we see the ability to relate the gospel with the problem of freedom of people here and now.
Pope John Paul II kneeling at the grave of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko. June 14, 1987
"Blessed are you when you are reviled and persecuted...on my account” (Mt. 5: 11)
Christ does not promise an easy life to those who follow him. Instead, he proclaims that, by living according to the Gospel, they are to become a sign of contradiction. If he himself suffered persecution, so too will his disciples. This firm perseverence alongside Christ and his Gospel, this readiness to face "sufferings for righteousness’ sake, often invlove acts of heroism and can take the form of an authentic martyrdom, carried out every day and at every moment of life, drop by drop, until the final "it is finished”.
I wish to reconsider this message in the light of the Gospel Beatitude, which refers to everyone who is ready to be 'persecuted' for the sake of righteousness. Poland has never lacked such confessors of Christ. Nor did this city of Bydgoszcz lack them either. It is from this church that Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko embarked on his last journey. The words that he spoke then during the rosary meditation are written into this context. He quoted the words of St. Paul, "For he graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well.”
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”
Indeed, "rejoice and be glad, all you who are today to suffer for righteousness’ sake, for your reward is great in heaven!" ( Pope John Paul’s homily in Bydgoszcz, June 7, 1999)
When I think about my classmate, I cannot but recall the day of our ordination when at the beginning of the celebration the rector of the seminary called us forth by name and each one of us stepped forward and responded: “Jestem”, “Here I am”. No one could have imagined what that “Jestem” would entail for each of us, least of all my friend Jurek, and where it would eventually lead him in his priestly service to God’s people. My dear friend, you lived the gospel to the letter and you teach us your fellow priests in the Year for the Priest to do the same. Thank you for your heroic example and witness. On Sunday, June 6, 2010 in Warsaw, I had the singular grace to witness my friend and classmate being proclaimed Blessed. His liturgical feast is to be celebrated on October 19.
Fr. Jan Kolodynski, St. Jerome Parish, Brampton
Twenty-six years ago, on October 19, 1984, a frail, young priest was savagely beaten and drowned by government security agents in the woods of rural Poland. The brutal death of this holy priest, carried out in the dark of night, captured the attention of the world, and his martyrdom is increasingly seen as a sacrifice leading not only to the resurrection of his own country as a free and independent nation of Christian people, but a bloody sacrifice redeeming all enslaved European peoples from the Baltic to the Urals. The Servant of God, John Paul II, on learning of his death said: “May good arise from this death like the Resurrection from the Cross”.
Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko was born in 1947 on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, in the village of Okopy in North Eastern Poland and was baptized two days later. His parents were farmers and devout Catholics, and he, like most young Poles, grew up with a profound love for the Church and a mystical love for a country whose history, culture, music and literature are one with the Church.
But it was also a time when the Church’s very existence in Poland was challenged; first with naked terror in the fifties, when Cardinal Wyszynski was arrested in 1953 and imprisoned for three years this was followed by unrelenting administrative pressure in the 1960’s. The Church as an institution survived in Poland, unlike other countries of the communist bloc where it had been successfully marginalized. The Catholic Church with 95% of the total population of Poland has always played an important role in the struggle for freedom and human dignity against oppressive systems. Throughout its struggle, since the end of the war, the Church had drawn attention to the values of human dignity and freedom.
As a high school student, Blessed Jerzy kept secret his intention to become a priest for fear that the results of his examinations would be altered if his secret were known.
In 1965 he entered the Major Seminary of Warsaw, the year prior to the Church’s celebration of its first millennium, but which also was a period of heightened anti-church campaign and worst church-state relations since the early 1950s. In response to the festivities, the government taxed churches and seminaries, and severely restricted foreign travel for clergy.
After a year in the seminary, however, as part of the government’s campaign against the Church, he was drafted into the Army. Serving in an indoctrination unit in Bartoszyce, Blessed Jerzy came to know in his own body the evil of a godless state. He would defy the army authorities boldly for which he was severely punished. These repeated punishments were endured quietly and bravely, but had a long-term effect on his health.
In 1968 he resumed his seminary studies and joined my class (I had entered in 1966) and for the next four years we continued together our preparation for the priesthood.
How do I remember him? I remember him as being an amiable, sociable, kind and naturally good person. He was seen as ordinary, frail, and “not spectacular”. We were both ordained with 29 other deacons by the Servant of God, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski on May 28, 1972. By 1978 his army punishments were taking a toll and he collapsed while saying Mass. To assist his recovery, Jerzy was assigned to the University Church of St. Anne where he served as chaplain to health care personnel, primarily nurses and eventually became the chaplain to the medical profession of Warsaw.
Photo from Ordination to the Diaconate in 1971. On the left, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, second on right, Fr. Jan Kolodynski.
Solidarity aimed at long term social change without resorting to violence. Workers from the Warsaw Steel plant, who were on strike in support of the shipyards in Gdansk, sent a delegation to Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski requesting that a priest say Mass for them. The priest who was available at the parish was Blessed Popieluszko. He stayed with the workers night and day, heard confessions, celebrated Mass. It was here that the bond between Blessed Jerzy and the workers was forged. Later he was chosen by the workers as their chaplain at the plant. It was also during these years when the “not so spectacular seminary student” found his voice, acquired a new eloquence and charisma, and became the spiritual foundation for a peaceful revolution that would eventually change the world. In uniting himself totally with the persecuted, suffering, faithful people of Poland, Blessed Jerzy united himself with the suffering of Christ that continues through His Mystical Body. His priesthood took on new meaning and he became, as never before, an alter Christus in the eyes of the people he served.
Significant, even prophetic, is the text taken from Isaiah that he had chosen for his ordination card: “The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the broken hearted.”
Blessed Popieluszko became increasingly involved in the activities of the steel workers and remained a source of moral and spiritual support to them throughout the solidarity era, which came to an end with the announcement of martial law on December 13th, 1981. Solidarity was banned and thousands of its member and supporters were imprisoned. But Blessed Jerzy continued to be very close to the workers and he believed this to be his duty as a priest. He attended several political trials connected with the action taken by the steel workers in the summer of 1980. His was the conviction that the Church cannot be neutral in the face of injustice but the defender of the oppressed.
Martial Law
After the imposition of martial law, in February 1982 at the request of his pastor, Father Teofil Bogucki, Blessed Jerzy began a monthly “Mass for Poland and for those suffering for her” that was attended by tens of thousands of people . His message echoed that of the great Polish Pope in Rome: “Evil overcome it with good,” he implored. He also made clear that people of faith have a moral duty to resist evil, asking, “Whose side will you take? The side of good or the side of evil? Truth or falsehood? Love or hatred?"
Blessed Popieluszko asked the people “to include God in the difficult and powerful problems of the country” and he rebuked “the abuse of human rights and freedom of conscience." Like so many of Poland’s great freedom fighters, he compared the sufferings of Poland to those of Christ: “The trial of Jesus goes on forever. It continues through his brothers and sisters. Only their names, their faces, their dates, and their birth places change.” Like the Pope he loved, Jerzy knew that fear lay at the root of his country’s enslavement. He said, “If truth becomes for us a value, worthy of suffering and risk, then we shall overcome fear – the direct reason for our enslavement."
Blessed Jerzy always took note of the large issues involved in this struggle of State versus people such as the nature of authority and government, justice and the fundamental human right to freedom. He believed that the root cause of the problems of Poland was the exclusion of God from its socio-political life. The basic Christian truth is that the authorities should serve the people whom they govern. His sermon frequently mentioned that freedom is God-given and therefore any enslavement of freedom is to work against God.
No violence but Solidarity
His sermons expressed his stand against revenge and use of violence and a desire to pray not only for those who are oppressed but also for those who oppress the people. As a staunch supporter of Solidarity he referred to it as the ‘patriotic struggle to reinstate human dignity. The essence of Blessed Jerzy’s vision of freedom is the concept of solidarity of hearts, which was first introduced to the Poles by Pope John Paul. He strongly challenged his hearers to show care and love for those who suffer innocently. He says, “Let us pray to God to fill us with the power of his spirit, to reawaken the spirit of true solidarity in our hearts.”
Michael Kaufman, the New York Times’ Warsaw Bureau Chief recognized the courage, audacity and importance of Blessed Popieluszko’s message when he wrote:
“Nowhere else from East Berlin to Vladivostok could anyone stand before ten or fifteen thousand people and use a microphone to condemn the errors of state and party. Nowhere, in that vast stretch encompassing some four hundred million people, was anyone else openly telling a crowd that defiance of authority was an obligation of the heart, of religion, manhood, and nationhood.”
Among the tens of thousands of Poles listening to the voice of the brave, young priest were government agents who recognized that their position and privilege were threatened by the truth being powerfully proclaimed. In 1983 the persecution of Blessed Popieluszko became routine. He was frequently called to police headquarters for interrogations, spent many nights in prison, his car was vandalized, his apartment was broken into, and the authorities even planted subversive literature and bomb making materials in his apartment.
On October 13, 1984 there was an unsuccessful attempt on his life. Blessed Jerzy and his driver were travelling the Gdansk-Warsaw road when something was thrown at his car that would have caused it to crash. The driver swerved the car and avoided what could have been a fatal “accident”. On one occasion I recall his saying: “I am convinced that what I am doing is just, that is why I am ready for everything”.
Despite warnings that there could be “serious consequences” if he preached in the northern town of Bydgoszcz a week later on October 19, 1984, he celebrated Mass and also led the people in a meditation on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. His conclusion to the reflections were his last public words:
"In order to defeat evil with good, in order to preserve the dignity of man, one must not use violence. It is the person who has failed to win on the strength of his heart and his reason who tries to win by force… Let us pray that we may be free from fear and intimidation, but above all from lust for revenge and violence."
Government security agents who are believed to have been in that congregation followed the priest and his driver for about an hour on the return journey to Warsaw. On a lonely stretch of road they stopped the car, arrested, gagged and bound the driver and put him in the unmarked police car. The driver managed to escape and reported the incident to the local priest and to church authorities.
The ‘police’ beat him senseless with clubs and their fists and threw him into the trunk of their car and drove off. Blessed Jerzy recovered consciousness and began to shout and bang on the trunk of the car. They stopped to gag him but Blessed Jerzy managed to escape. He was recaptured and again beaten with clubs. A second time he regained consciousness and this time the officers tied him with ropes around his neck and ankles in such a way that if he moved his feet, the rope would tighten around his neck. They also stuffed his mouth with material and secured it with sticking plaster, which also covered his nose thus restricting his breathing even more. The senior officer ordered that stones should be tied to his feet and returned him to the trunk of the car. They then drove to a reservoir on the Vistula River where they removed Blessed Jerzy from the trunk and threw him into the water. Forensic experts later stated that at this point he may have still been alive.
The body of Blessed Popieluszko was retrieved ten days later from the Wloclawek Reservoir. The body was covered with deep wounds. His face was unrecognizable, his jaw, nose, mouth and skull were smashed. He was identified by his brother from a birthmark to the side of his chest. One of the doctors who performed the post mortem said that he had never seen such violent injuries. There was blood in his lungs and his kidneys and intestines were reduced to pulp.
The funeral of Blessed Popieluszko was attended by a million people. Pope John Paul II and leaders from throughout the world have prayed at his grave. On February 8, 1997 his cause for beatification was introduced. It was concluded on the diocesan level in 2001. To date 18 million people have prayed at his grave including many heads of state. On December 19, Pope Benedict signed a decree recognizing the martyrdom of Servant of God, Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko.
Blessed Popieluszko freely admitted that he had reason to fear for his life and on one occasion he had said, “if I must die suddenly, it is surely better to meet death defending a worthwhile cause than sitting back and letting injustice win.” Blessed Popieluszko was an ordinary Catholic priest but who sacrificed his life for the cause of human dignity and freedom. He was with the people when they were degraded, ill-treated and repressed. He was the voice of those who longed for freedom. His faith in God made him identify himself with the struggling masses. He recognized that the way to liberation is through courageously witnessing to the truth and through overcoming fear. It was his conviction that there is meaning in suffering for truth and even sacrificing one’s life for it. He stroved for human liberation in a given existential situation. In him, we see the ability to relate the gospel with the problem of freedom of people here and now.
Pope John Paul II kneeling at the grave of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko. June 14, 1987
Christ does not promise an easy life to those who follow him. Instead, he proclaims that, by living according to the Gospel, they are to become a sign of contradiction. If he himself suffered persecution, so too will his disciples. This firm perseverence alongside Christ and his Gospel, this readiness to face "sufferings for righteousness’ sake, often invlove acts of heroism and can take the form of an authentic martyrdom, carried out every day and at every moment of life, drop by drop, until the final "it is finished”.
I wish to reconsider this message in the light of the Gospel Beatitude, which refers to everyone who is ready to be 'persecuted' for the sake of righteousness. Poland has never lacked such confessors of Christ. Nor did this city of Bydgoszcz lack them either. It is from this church that Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko embarked on his last journey. The words that he spoke then during the rosary meditation are written into this context. He quoted the words of St. Paul, "For he graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well.”
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”Indeed, "rejoice and be glad, all you who are today to suffer for righteousness’ sake, for your reward is great in heaven!" ( Pope John Paul’s homily in Bydgoszcz, June 7, 1999)
When I think about my classmate, I cannot but recall the day of our ordination when at the beginning of the celebration the rector of the seminary called us forth by name and each one of us stepped forward and responded: “Jestem”, “Here I am”. No one could have imagined what that “Jestem” would entail for each of us, least of all my friend Jurek, and where it would eventually lead him in his priestly service to God’s people. My dear friend, you lived the gospel to the letter and you teach us your fellow priests in the Year for the Priest to do the same. Thank you for your heroic example and witness. On Sunday, June 6, 2010 in Warsaw, I had the singular grace to witness my friend and classmate being proclaimed Blessed. His liturgical feast is to be celebrated on October 19.
Fr. Jan Kolodynski, St. Jerome Parish, Brampton
St. Jerome's Roman Catholic Church © 1990-2012