Europe

Dublin, Ireland, Oct 26, 2018 / 04:06 pm (CNA).- Exit polls indicated Irish voters were expected to repeal the Republic of Ireland’s constitutional prohibition against blasphemy, with close to 70 percent of voters backing the change in a Friday v… […]

London, England, Oct 24, 2018 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- Members of Parliament challenged the UK government to address sexual harassment of women by restricting sexualized media, especially pornography.

In a recent report, the House of Commons’ Women an… […]

London, England, Oct 23, 2018 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- Pro-life advocates have responded cautiously to a proposed new law to expand access to abortion nationwide and force legalization on Northern Ireland, where the practice remains illegal in all but except… […]

Warsaw, Poland, Oct 19, 2018 / 04:42 pm (CNA).- When Communist officials kidnapped and killed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, they likely did not intend to help create a Polish hero, martyr and future saint for the Catholic Church.

Although the Communists had been trying to kill Popiełuszko in ways that would seem like an accident, they captured him 34 years ago today, on Oct. 19, 1984. They beat him to death and threw his body into a river. He was 37 years old.

His crimes: encouraging peaceful resistance to Communism via the radio waves of Radio Free Europe, and working as chaplain to the workers of the Solidarność (Solidarity) movement and trade union, which was known for its opposition to Communism.  

Popiełuszko was born on Sept. 14, 1947 to a farming family in Okopy, a village in eastern Poland bordering modern-day Ukraine. While World War II had ended, the regime of the Communist Party had taken place of the Nazis and ruled Poland at the time.

As a young man, Popiełuszko served his required time in the army before completing seminary studies and becoming a priest for the Archdiocese of Warsaw. He was ordained on May 28, 1972 at the age of 24.

As a priest in Warsaw, Popiełuszko served in both regular and student parishes. He became known for his steadfast, non-violent resistance to Communism, about which he spoke frequently in his homilies, which were broadcast on Radio Free Europe.

Popiełuszko participated in the Solidarity worker’s strike in Warsaw on March 27, 1981, a four-hour national warning strike that essentially ground Poland to a halt, and was the biggest strike in the history of the Soviet Bloc and in the history of Poland.

After this strikes, the Communist party declared martial law until July 1983 in the country, severely restricting the daily life of Poles in an effort to clamp down on their growing political opposition.

During this time, Popiełuszko celebrated monthly “Masses for the Homeland” on the last Sunday of the month, advocating for human rights and peaceful resistance of Communism, and attracting thousands of attendees. His Warsaw office had also become an official hub for Solidarity activities.

It was also during this time that Communist attacks against the priest escalated. In 1982, Communist authorities attempted to bomb the priest’s home, but he escaped unharmed. In 1983, Popiełuszko was arrested on false charges by the Communist authorities, but was released shortly thereafter following significant pressure from the Polish people and the Catholic Church.

According to a 1990 article in the Washington Post, Cardinal Józef Glemp, Archbishop of Warsaw at the time, received a secret message from the Polish Pope John Paul II, demanding that Glemp defend Popiełuszko and advocate for his release.

“Defend Father Jerzy – or they’ll start finding weapons in the desk of every second bishop,” the pope wrote.

But the Communist officials did not relent. According to court testimony, in September 1984 Communist officials had decided that the priest needed to either be pushed from a train, have a “beautiful traffic accident” or be tortured to death.

On October 13, 1984, Popiełuszko managed to avoid a traffic accident set up to kill him. The back-up plan, capture and torture, was carried out by Communist authorities on Oct. 19. They lured the priest to them by pretending that their car had broken down on a road along which the priest was travelling.

The captors reportedly beat the priest with a rock until he died, and then tied his mangled body to rocks and bags of sand and dumped it in a reservoir along the Vistula River.

His body was recovered on Oct. 30, 1984.

His death grieved and enraged Catholics and members of the Solidarity movement, who had hoped to accomplish social change without violence.

“When the news was announced at his parish church, his congregation was silent for a moment and then began shrieking and weeping with grief,” the BBC wrote of the priest’s death.

“The worst has happened. Someone wanted to kill and he killed not only a man, not a Pole, not only a priest. Someone wanted to kill the hope that it is possible to avoid violence in Polish political life,” Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, a friend of Popiełuszko, said at the time.

He also urged mourners to remain calm and peaceful during the priest’s funeral, which drew more than a quarter of a million people.

Again facing pressure from the Church and the Polish people, Poland’s president Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski was forced to answer for the priest’s death, and arrested Captain Grzegorz Piotrowski, Leszek Pękala, Waldemar Chmielewski and Colonel Adam Pietruszka as responsible for the murder.

“Our intelligence sources in Poland do not believe it,” the Washington Post reported in 1990, when the case was being revisited.

“Jaruzelski had presided over a far-reaching anti-church campaign. At least two other priests died mysteriously. And Jaruzelski created the climate that allowed the SB (Communist secret service) to persecute and kill Father Jerzy.”

In 2009, Popiełuszko was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle, the highest civilian or military decoration in Poland. That same year, he was declared a martyr of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI, and on June 6, 2010 he was beatified. A miracle in France through the intercession of Popiełuszko is being investigated in France as the final step in his cause for canonization.

Popiełuszko is one of more than 3,000 priests martyred in Poland under the Nazi and Communist regimes which dominated the country from 1939-1989.

On Friday, Archbishop Stanisław Budzik of Poland and the Polish bishops’ conference released a statement honoring the memory of Father Popiełuszko and all the 20th century priest martyrs of Poland.  

“Today, remembering Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, we remember the unswerving priests who preached the Gospel, served God and people in the most terrible times and had the courage not only to suffer for the faith but to give what is most dear to men: their lives.”

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London, England, Oct 17, 2018 / 12:34 pm (CNA).- A Catholic school in London has turned its horticulture lessons into meals for the homeless.

St Gregory’s Catholic Science College in northwest London educates nearly 1000 children, aged 11-18. Many of the students volunteer for social and environmental work.

This year, horticulture students grew pumpkins from seed in the summer term and harvested their fruit in early October. The pupils used the pumpkins, along with thyme from their garden, to make soup. They sent that soup to London’s Ealing Abbey Soup Kitchen, an ecumenical initiative of service for the city’s homeless population.

Ealing Abbey Soup Kitchen has been serving people in need since 1973. The pumpkin-thyme soup provided more than 150 portions.

“I’m really proud of our pupils for sharing the fruits of their labours with those in our community who will benefit the most,” the school’s headteacher, Andrew Prindiville told the UK’s Independent Catholic News website.

The students of St Gregory’s have also been recently involved with environmental projects, among them helping to clean nearby Woodcock Park. Wealdstone Brook, which runs through the park, has had a problem with misconnected water lines dumping waste into the water from some 140 nearby homes.

Thames Water and Friends of Woodcock Park, who worked alongside the students, have been flushing dirty water away from the brook for the past five years. Receiving $1,300 worth of donated flowers, shrubs, and bulbs, the students and other community volunteers were able to revitalize the landscape.

Earlier this year, St Gregory’s Catholic Science College won the Horticultural Society’s School Gardening Team of the year award. The school has also been awarded the Eco Schools Green Flag Award for its commitment to the environment as seen in its curriculum.

The school was nominated for the 2018 Sustainable Schools TES AWARD. Headteacher Andy Prindiville said consideration for that award was an incredible honor.

“This is a wonderful accolade for St Gregory’s as we are one of only eight schools to have been shortlisted and is the result of the hard work and dedication of the staff, governors, local community and pupils of St Gregory’s,” said Prindiville, the Harrow Times reported.

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London, England, Oct 17, 2018 / 10:30 am (CNA).- A London borough has apologized to a U.K. pro-life charity after making inaccurate claims about the group. Life, a non-sectarian charity which provides assistance to women and children, was ejected from … […]

Warsaw, Poland, Oct 16, 2018 / 02:30 pm (CNA).- The Polish bishops’ conference is celebrating the anniversary of the election of St. John Paul II. October 16 marks 40 years since Cardinal Karol Wojtyla’s rise to the throne of St. Peter.

Archbishop Józef Michalik of Przemyśl, who was the rector of the Polish College in Rome at the time of the 1978 conclaves – the second of which elected Wojtyla, gave his personal insight into the days following up to the election of Pope John Paul II.

“We joked, commented on the press reports and, sometimes, spoke seriously,” said Archbishop Michalik in an account released by the Polish Bishops’ Conference to mark the anniversary.

Cardinal Wojtyla had joined the college often for meals and daily prayers before the conclave began.

“The Cardinal always took these jokes and conversations with a smile, and sometimes he responded with humor,” he said.

He addressed the days following the death of Pope John Paul I, who had passed away from a heart attack 33 days after his election to the papacy. He highlighted the apparent interest of the other cardinals toward Cardinal Wojtyla’s election.

Archbishop Michalik had welcomed Cardinal Wojtyla at the airport shortly before the conclave. On their way to the view the body of Pope John Paul I at St. Peter’s Basilica, he asked the soon-to-be pope how many cardinal’s he had not known.

“Cardinal [Wojtyla] thought about it and replied: seven. For me, it was an indirect answer, that there is actually no other Cardinal who would know personally only seven Cardinals. This indicated that our Cardinal’s chances were serious in the upcoming conclave,” said Archbishop Michalik.

The Polish bishops’ conference said Wojtyla was a major figure in the Church, who participated in synods, led retreats for the Roman Curia, and was a friend of Pope Paul VI.

Archbishop Michalik said, though Cardinal Wojtyla was a respected clergymen and scholar, the polish saint had remained humble.

The Polish bishops’ release included the anecdote that, on the day of the conclave, “one of the priests spontaneously prayed that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla would become pope.” Cardinal Wojtyla responded with prayer, invoking the words of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew: “Get out of my sight, Satan,” the future pope is quoted as responding.

“Finally, he added his own intention, asking that God’s servant, who would accept the choice with humility and accomplish God’s will, be chosen,” the statement added.

Immediately following the election of Pope John Paul II, the Polish College gathered in the chapel and sang the Te Deum, “giving thanks for this event and…recommending the new Pope to God,” said Archbishop Michalik.

The Polish bishops’ conference highlighted a conversation between John Paul II and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, who had suggested the name John Paul II to the new pope.

“Primate Stefan Wyszyński asked John Paul II how he felt here in the Vatican, and the Pope replied: ‘As if I have always been here.’ ‘This is the grace of God, the grace of the state,’ commented Cardinal Wyszyński,” according to the statement.

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Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct 15, 2018 / 05:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow has cut ties with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, claiming his recognition of an independent Orthodox Church in Ukraine departed from Orthodox Christian norms.
 
Metropolitan Hilarion, who heads foreign relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, said Russian Orthodox leaders decided to “break the Eucharistic communion” in response to actions it called “lawless and canonically void.”
 
“The Russian Orthodox Church doesn’t recognize those decisions and won’t fulfill them,” Hilarion said in Belarus after a meeting of the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“The church that acknowledged the schismatics has excluded itself from the canonical field of Orthodoxy.”
 
“We are hoping common sense will prevail and that the Constantinople Patriarchate will change its relations to existing church reality,” Metropolitan Hilarion said.
 
The break comes in response to the decision of Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the “first among equals” leader of the global Orthodox Church, to issue a statement Oct. 11 confirming plans for an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church and restoring ties with the previously schismatic Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate.
 
The announcement also removed the traditional right of the Russian Patriarch to ordain the Metropolitan of Kyiv, a move which observers predicted would be perceived as a deliberate slight to Moscow. The right dated back to a canonical letter first issued in the year 1686.

Archbishop Yevstratiy, chief spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate and whose rehabilitation by Constantinople contributed to the current break with Moscow, said the Russian synod’s decision was a move towards “self-isolation.”
 
Writing in a Facebook post, he said “Sooner or later this will be fixed and the Russian Orthodox Church will return to communion.”

According to the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Press Service, Yevstratiy claimed that Orthodox Christians must choose whether to follow the Russian Orthodox “into schism” or “remain in unity with the Ecumenical Patriarch (Bartholomew I of Constantinople) through the Local Ukrainian Church.”
 
Among the backers of Constantinople’s move are Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who is running for re-election in March 2019. He had previously asked the Patriarch of Constantinople to grant independence to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the Associated Press reports.
 
While the recent push for an independent, autocephalous Orthodox Church in Ukraine emerged as a serious movement in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it gained further momentum following the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and Russian backing of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine in response to the unseating of Ukraine’s pro-Russia former president Viktor Yanukovych.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which claims traditional and canonical authority over the Orthodox community in Ukraine, has denied taking political sides in the conflict and said it has worked for peace in eastern Ukraine.

The Russian Church has also voiced concern that the Constantinople patriarchate’s actions could deepen religious divides in Ukraine and inspire breakaway branches to take over church buildings, Reuters reports.

Kyiv, now the capital of Ukraine, is the site of the 988 baptism of Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev, which resulted in the Christianization of Kyivan Rus’, a state whose heritage Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus all claim.
 
Orthodox Christians in Ukraine have recently been divided into three separate groups.
 
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate effectively declared itself independent from Moscow in 1992, and is considered by the Russian Church to be a schismatic group. Until now, the other Orthodox Churches have recognized Ukraine as under Moscow’s jurisdiction and honored the excommunication.
 
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, re-founded in 1990, is similarly seen as a breakaway group.
 
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is under the authority of the Russian Church and has been the officially recognized Orthodox Church in the country.
 
Patriarch Bartholomew’s plan to create a single, self-governing Church in the Ukraine, led by its own patriarch, is motivated by a desire to unify the country’s 30 million Orthodox Christians. The Russian Church sees the move as an infringement of its jurisdiction and authority.
 
There are about 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. The Orthodox Church split from the Catholic Church in 1054.
 

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Warsaw, Poland, Oct 15, 2018 / 03:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Polish film depicting unsavory characters as clerics has broken box office records and sparked a wave of sexual abuse allegations against clergy in the country where 96 percent of the populati… […]

Rome, Italy, Oct 12, 2018 / 03:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Two Eastern European bishops asked the Synod of Bishops in Rome for a greater focus on the importance of the Eucharist, the liturgy and fatherhood in the final Synod document during their intervent… […]