On Friday, precisely at 5 p.m.—the symbolic “W” hour—participants of the Warsaw Uprising were commemorated in front of St. Mary’s Basilica in Kraków. A Holy Mass for the Homeland was celebrated in the basilica, led by the Archbishop of Kraków, Marek Jędraszewski.
Among those attending the Mass were clergy, veterans of the Home Army, provincial and municipal authorities, members of parliament, representatives of the Institute of National Remembrance, members of the consular corps, and commanders of uniformed services.
The Church’s role in difficult times
In his address, the archbishop referenced the thoughts of Saint John Paul II, stating that a true nation is a community defined by unity of culture, language, and history. He recalled how Poland found itself almost simultaneously under occupation by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. At that time, efforts were made to annihilate Polish identity through the planned extermination of the intelligentsia and those who embodied the nation’s spirit. During this dramatic period, the Church played a major role, as did underground education. The poetry of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Tadeusz Gajcy, and Karol Wojtyła (author of Song of the Hidden God, among others) also flourished.
Criticism of the government: “They are fighting against the identity of our nation”
The archbishop also recalled the words of John Paul II delivered on June 19, 1983, during his first visit to Jasna Góra:
“Here we were always free—at Jasna Góra, with our Mother and Queen. Here we never gave in. Here we drew strength not only to survive but to triumph,” said the Holy Father at the time.
“We must, dear sisters and brothers, look at what is happening today, when one gets the impression that those currently in power are fighting against the identity of our nation,” the archbishop emphasized.
He pointed to reductions in religious education and Polish language classes in schools, and the introduction of a subject misleadingly named “health education.”
“How else can we describe the restriction of history and Polish language lessons in schools, the sidelining of the greatest literary works, the limitation of religious education—and the introduction of a subject seemingly geared, to varying degrees, toward the erosion—both biological and identity-related—of young children and adolescents? A subject under the misleading name ‘health education’? How can we describe the fact that those in power, not long ago, spat on Polish soldiers defending the country’s eastern border, and today are targeting above all the civilian, voluntary members of the border defense movement who serve their homeland?” asked the Archbishop of Kraków.