june 1982

Summer in Warsaw june 27 1982

Warsaw Poland, summer of 1982

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Introduction by Paul Hensler: In the summer of 1982 the Council of Religious Affairs requested dates for the second visit of Pope John Paul II to his homeland. The price of the deal was simply this: the Church should keep its distance from Solidarity. The government feared that Father Popieluszko’s following, including all of the solidarity internees, would, upon release head straight for his church and pick up their opposition activities. Department Four, the church monitoring arm chose to scare the priests by flattening tires, following their cars incessantly, bugging their offices and accumulating and manipulating information on the radical priests. This information was delivered to the Religious Council offices with great drama and each time the Council returned a letter saying ‘our priests are not meddling in politics.’ What degree of pressure and harassment on Popieluszko would have positive rather than negative effects? That was the calculation that had to be made in the offices of the Secret Police by ambitious, frustrated men. For any pressure on Church leaders to have a chance of success, Secret Police harassment would have to be carefully paced. Holy Mass for The Fatherland on June 27, 1982 was celebrated by Father Jerzy Popieluszko who delivered the sermon. Opening remarks We are now into the seventh month of the rules of Martial Law. In our homeland thousands are deprived of the liberty and millions continue to suffer. In this month, dedicated to the Heart of Jesus who suffered so much and continues to suffer for justice and peace, we […]

June 27 1982 1

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Holy Mass for The Fatherland on June 27, 1982 was celebrated by Father Jerzy Popieluszko who delivered the sermon. Opening remarks We are now into the seventh month of the rules of Martial Law. In our homeland thousands are deprived of the liberty and millions continue to suffer. In this month, dedicated to the Heart of Jesus who suffered so much and continues to suffer for justice and peace, we gather in the church to make the most holy offering for those whom this martial law has touched the most. For those deprived of their freedom, the condemned, the arrested, the arrested. For those who were deprived of their work. For their families and above all for their children. Homily I beg you, Lord, look at this entire land.
 Look at it, lend us your ear 
Let our hope in your word not fade. 
The Lord listens most readily to the child 
when it wants happiness not for itself, but – for its brothers. In this month, dedicated to the Heart of Jesus, we want to embrace in our hearts those who most need it. We want to embrace the children of families most affected by the martial law. Children are so very sensitive to injustice, which they cannot understand. The world of a child is so very delicate. Evil destroys the child’s mind most when it is sudden and cruel. Brutality and hate, which touched many families, must have its consequences. We have so many orphaned children in children’s homes. Children, alone and sad. […]