Thousands of worshippers attended an open-air mass in Warsaw on Sunday for the beatification of a Polish priest and anti-Communist activist murdered by the secret police in 1984.
The mass, conducted by papal delegate Archbishop Angelo Amato in a central Warsaw square, brought Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a key figure in the anti-Communist Solidarity movement, a step closer to sainthood.
“(Popieluszko) epitomised truth, honesty, love and freedom of conscience, but the system of evil did not accept such values, so he was harassed, tormented, tortured and killed,” Archbishop Amato said during the service.
“The forces of contempt had no respect for human life and cast his body away like an animal’s carcass,” Archbishop Angelo Amato said.
The congregation, estimated at between 130,000 and 140,000, included groups in traditional costumes, miners in black uniforms and plumed hats, soldiers, nuns, Boy Scouts and former Solidarity members.
Leading Polish officials, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk as well as presidential candidates Bronislaw Komorowski and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, prayed before an altar bearing Popieluszko’s motto “overcome evil with good”.
During martial law rule from 1981 to 1983, Father Popieluszko became an icon of the opposition and thousands flocked to hear his sermons.
The 37-year-old priest was kidnapped, tortured and killed and his body dumped in the Vistula river.
The beatification process, a necessary step on a road to sainthood, began in 1997 but was fast-tracked last December when Pope Benedict decided Father Jerzy Popieluszko could be considered a martyr.
The ceremony was due to be followed by a 12-kilometre procession through the city to the southern suburb of Wilanow, where his remains would be enshrined in the Church of Divine Providence. —Reuters