Poland’s Catholic Church is remembering the 3000 Catholic priests killed during World War II, under Communist rule and in mission territories with a Book entitled “The Priest’s Vow” listing the names of the dead that has been presented to the Black Madonna at Jasna Gora Marian Shrine. The presentation by Polish priests was the highlight of a Pilgrimage for Priests 30 April - 1 May to the Shrine of Jasna Góra, in Czestochowa, as part of events for the Year for Priests, Fides reports.
The Book also contains the names of seminarians killed in similar circumstances.
The priests presented the Blessed Virgin Mary with a special urn containing earth from the place where the Polish priests were persecuted and killed.
The pilgrimage included a Prayer Vigil in the Chapel of the Black Madonna at Jasna Góra and a Priests Prayer in the Cathedral of the Holy Family of Nazareth, in Czestochowa, with the participation of about 50 Polish Bishops and 3,000 priests.
Among those present Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow.
At the end of the procession about 5,000 priests and seminarians took part in a Holy Mass presided by Cardinal Hummes, who made a vibrant appeal in his homily to the priests of Poland urging them carry the Gospel to all the different areas of social life and cultural environments: “You must go to families, to work places, to schools, to university environments, you must seek out those who have no faith”.
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