The American journalist Sydney J. Harris wrote: “Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, ‘the greatest,’ but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is”. Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the 37-year-old Polish priest who was brutally beaten, murdered and thrown into the icy waters of the Vistula River by three Security Police officers, on the evening of October 19, 1984, stands forever as an inspiring example of true patriotism. Why?
In his brief reflection on patriotism, Harris intelligently suggests that a patriot holds an objective appreciation of her/his own country. As a down to earth person, a patriot is never afraid to admit her/his country’s shortcomings and, by that token, is always ready to mend them as much as s/he can. This has been the case with Father Jerzy. In fact, when this heroic Polish priest saw the outright violation of human rights, the rights of workers and the dignity of his Polish compatriots, all he did was to live with extreme seriousness Saint Paul’s spiritual advice to the Romans: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12, 21). For Father Popieluszko this meant living with the utmost courage and fidelity his love for God, the cross of Christ, the Gospel, and Poland, his native country. As chaplain of the Polish Solidarity movement, Father Jerzy was unshakeable in his bold commitment to stand side by side with the workers during their strikes and in giving his pastoral support to the families of persecuted and imprisoned workers. According to Father Mariusz Frukacz of the Archdiocese of Czestochowa, journalist and editor of the Catholic weekly Niedziela, “Father Popieluszko was not a political activist in the usual sense of the term, but he always reminded people that political action must serve the common good, must recognise the dignity of persons and respect human rights. In this sense we can say that Father Popieluszko, wishing to fulfill his priestly vocation to serve humanity, participated intensely in social life. The aim of his action was not of a reductive or particular political character”. Inclusivity not exclusivity was the bread and butter of Popieluszko’s heartening patriotism.
His moving homilies were often interwoven with political messages, aimed at condemning the Communist government’s oppressive measures while encouraging people to protest for their trampled human rights and freedom of conscience. “Vanquish evil with good… Whose side will you take? The side of good or the side of evil? Truth or falsehood? Love or hatred?... Include God in the difficult and powerful problems of the country… The trial of Jesus goes on forever. It continues through his brothers. Only their names, their faces, their dates, and their birth places change… If truth becomes for us a value, worthy of suffering and risk, then we shall overcome fear – the direct reason for our enslavement…”
Fully convinced that he was rightly correcting his country’s inhuman political system, thanks to his wholehearted and relentless dedication for justice and peace, Father Jerzy ignored serious threats that were levelled at him if he preached in the northern town of Bydgoszcz a week later, precisely on 19 October, 1984. After he finished Mass, he meditated on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary with his congregation. His very last words which concluded both the meditations as well as his brave life were the following: “In order to defeat evil with good, in order to preserve the dignity of man, one must not use violence. It is the person who has failed to win on the strength of his heart and his reason who tries to win by force… Let us pray that we may be free from fear and intimidation, but above all from lust for revenge and violence”.
The more than 250,000 people who attended his funeral, the 17 million who have visited his tomb up to now, and his forthcoming beatification on 6 June, all confirm that Father Jerzy Popieluszko is an authentic patriot since his love for God and for his homeland never contradicted each other but both led to charity in truth.
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap