Bl. Jerzy Popieluszko
Posted on November 6, 2020 by admin No comments
Born: 14 September 1947 Okopy, near Suchowola, Polish People’s Republic
Died: 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
Venerated: in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified: 6 June 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI, recognition to be celebrated at Pilsudski Square, Warsaw, Poland, presided by Archbishop Angelo Amato
Feast: 19 October
Patronage: Solidarity
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.