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Maciej Jasiński illustrations
Krzysztof Wyrzykowski He did not fight with a weapon in his hand and he did not defeat his opponents in duels. What’s more - from a human point of view - he lost. He died, murdered by those who were on the side of violence and evil. So how can he be considered a comic-book hero? - someone will ask. And yet, in my opinion - and I’m sure in the opinion of the majority of us – Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, like only a few people can be, deserves to be called a hero. An unwavering man who, in the face of harrasment, persecution and torture, remained faithful. Faithful to himself and to what he believed in. He was a hero of the spirit. Something that we tend to forget about in our materialistic, electronic and pragmatic world. We deny its existence, fascinated only with „here and now”. He was a hero of something that you can not touch or see, but - as Popiełuszko’s example teaches – can inexplicably decide the fate of not only the individual, but also the entire nation. „Overcome evil with good” – preached the chaplain of „Solidarity”, echoing not only St. Paul and the “Polish Pope”, John Paul II, but also with what Marianna Popiełuszko taught him from when he was only little. A mother who was able to forgive her son’s murderers. Honorary Citizen of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Piotr Całbecki Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
ISBN 978-83-949231-6-7
text Maciej Jasiński illustrations
Krzysztof Wyrzykowski content advisor
prof. dr hab. Waldemar Rozynkowski translation Agata Wolska
phot. Father Jerzy Popiełuszko Youth Education Centre in Górsk
ISBN The comic book explores the final and most tragic events in the life of the chaplain of „Solidarity”. However, it must not be forgotten that since his earliest years, the future priest and martyr followed a path that was marked by three signs: family, faith and homeland. Jerzy Popiełuszko was born on September 14, 1947, in the village of Okopy, near Suchowola in Podlasie. His parents were farmers and had five children. He went to school in Suchowola. In 1965, he joined the Higher Metropolitan Seminary of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw. During his studies, he had to serve two years of compulsory military service in a special unit for clerics in Bartoszyce. Despite being harassed by communist commanders to force him to give up on his spiritual path, he did not let them take away his holy pendant and rosary. He paid for this with ill health, the consequences of which he felt until the end of his life. On May 28, 1972, he was ordained priest by the Primate of Poland, Archbishop Stefan Wyszyński. For the next eight years, he was a priest in the parishes of Warsaw and the Warsaw metropolitan area. In May 1980, he was sent, to the St. Stanisław Kostka Parish Church in Żoliborz, where, apart from helping with parish work, he became involved in the „pastoral work” among workers. It began in August 1980, with a holy mass celebrated by Fr. Popieluszko for striking workers of Huta Warszawa. He also organised pilgrimages for workers to Jasna Góra. Throughout his priesthood, he was a defender of human dignity and the rights for justice, love and truth - according to the teachings of St. Paul and Pope John Paul II, to overcome evil with good. His homilies during services for the nation, which began to be celebrated at St. Stanisław Kostka Church since the imposition of martial law, became very popular. In retaliation, the communist authorities intensified their persecution of him. He was repeatedly arrested, detained and interrogated. He was even accused of „activities to the detriment of the People’s Republic of Poland.” According to the prosecutor, he had been „abusing his position as priest to make the churches a place of anti-state propaganda”. The regime press (including journalist, Jerzy Urban) accused Fr. Popiełuszko of organising „spectacles of hatred” and slanderly linked him to alleged frauds and moral scandals. They even went as far as to plant explosives in his apartment. And despite all the harassment he experienced, Fr. Popiełuszko did not stop proclaiming the truth, to which the communists retaliated by commiting a crime. On October 13, 1984, the police attempted to plot a traffic accident in which Fr. Popiełuszko was meant to be killed. Six days later, while driving from Bydgoszcz back to Warsaw, Fr. Popiełuszko was kidnapped by officers of the Ministry of the Interior in Górsk, near Toruń. He was beaten, tied up, stuffed into a bag filled with stones and thrown into the Włocławek Reservoir. On October 30, 1984, the body of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko was found. On November 3, 1984, just under a million people participated in the funeral of the martyr, displaying hundreds of banners in support of the banned “Solidarity” Union, He was buried next to the church of St. Stanisław Kostka in Żoliborz. In 1985, in a trial that was a parody of the rule of law (with the accused often turning into the accusers, accusing the murdered priest of spreading hatred), the murderers of Fr. Popiełuszko were sentenced to several years imprisonment. However, the communist authorities reduced their sentences several times, thanks to which they quickly found themselves free again. On June 6, 2010, by the decision of the Holy See, Father Jerzy Popiełuszko was counted among the blessed. The canonisation process of the chaplain of „Solidarity” is under way. At the place of the kidnapping as well as in Toruń, Bydgoszcz and Włocławek, monuments have been placed in his honour. In 2013, six months before her death, Marianna Popiełuszko - mother of Fr. Popiełuszko - became an Honorary Citizen of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. A year later, the Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko Youth Education Centre was opened in Górsk.
978-83-949231-6-7 publication date 2020 edition 500 copies publisher Agencja Reklamowa GALL sc ul. Szosa Chełmińska 50, 87-100 Toruń gall@gall.torun.pl commissioned by Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region
Contact: Office of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region in Toruń Address: Plac Teatralny 2, 87-100 Toruń, tel. +48 56: 6218600, 6218610 e-mail: punkt.informacyjny@kujawsko-pomorskie.pl www.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl facebook.com/WojewodztwoKujawskoPomorskie twitter.com/lubietubyc instagram.com/kujawskopomorskie youtube.com/user/umwkp issuu.com/kujawsko-pomorskie flickr.com/photos/kujawskopomorskie
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Maciej Jasiński illustrations
Krzysztof Wyrzykowski
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text Maciej Jasiński illustrations
Krzysztof Wyrzykowski content advisor
prof. dr hab. Waldemar Rozynkowski translation Agata Wolska
phot. Father Jerzy Popiełuszko Youth Education Centre in Górsk
ISBN The comic book explores the final and most tragic events in the life of the chaplain of „Solidarity”. However, it must not be forgotten that since his earliest years, the future priest and martyr followed a path that was marked by three signs: family, faith and homeland. Jerzy Popiełuszko was born on September 14, 1947, in the village of Okopy, near Suchowola in Podlasie. His parents were farmers and had five children. He went to school in Suchowola. In 1965, he joined the Higher Metropolitan Seminary of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw. During his studies, he had to serve two years of compulsory military service in a special unit for clerics in Bartoszyce. Despite being harassed by communist commanders to force him to give up on his spiritual path, he did not let them take away his holy pendant and rosary. He paid for this with ill health, the consequences of which he felt until the end of his life. On May 28, 1972, he was ordained priest by the Primate of Poland, Archbishop Stefan Wyszyński. For the next eight years, he was a priest in the parishes of Warsaw and the Warsaw metropolitan area. In May 1980, he was sent, to the St. Stanisław Kostka Parish Church in Żoliborz, where, apart from helping with parish work, he became involved in the „pastoral work” among workers. It began in August 1980, with a holy mass celebrated by Fr. Popieluszko for striking workers of Huta Warszawa. He also organised pilgrimages for workers to Jasna Góra. Throughout his priesthood, he was a defender of human dignity and the rights for justice, love and truth - according to the teachings of St. Paul and Pope John Paul II, to overcome evil with good. His homilies during services for the nation, which began to be celebrated at St. Stanisław Kostka Church since the imposition of martial law, became very popular. In retaliation, the communist authorities intensified their persecution of him. He was repeatedly arrested, detained and interrogated. He was even accused of „activities to the detriment of the People’s Republic of Poland.” According to the prosecutor, he had been „abusing his position as priest to make the churches a place of anti-state propaganda”. The regime press (including journalist, Jerzy Urban) accused Fr. Popiełuszko of organising „spectacles of hatred” and slanderly linked him to alleged frauds and moral scandals. They even went as far as to plant explosives in his apartment. And despite all the harassment he experienced, Fr. Popiełuszko did not stop proclaiming the truth, to which the communists retaliated by commiting a crime. On October 13, 1984, the police attempted to plot a traffic accident in which Fr. Popiełuszko was meant to be killed. Six days later, while driving from Bydgoszcz back to Warsaw, Fr. Popiełuszko was kidnapped by officers of the Ministry of the Interior in Górsk, near Toruń. He was beaten, tied up, stuffed into a bag filled with stones and thrown into the Włocławek Reservoir. On October 30, 1984, the body of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko was found. On November 3, 1984, just under a million people participated in the funeral of the martyr, displaying hundreds of banners in support of the banned “Solidarity” Union, He was buried next to the church of St. Stanisław Kostka in Żoliborz. In 1985, in a trial that was a parody of the rule of law (with the accused often turning into the accusers, accusing the murdered priest of spreading hatred), the murderers of Fr. Popiełuszko were sentenced to several years imprisonment. However, the communist authorities reduced their sentences several times, thanks to which they quickly found themselves free again. On June 6, 2010, by the decision of the Holy See, Father Jerzy Popiełuszko was counted among the blessed. The canonisation process of the chaplain of „Solidarity” is under way. At the place of the kidnapping as well as in Toruń, Bydgoszcz and Włocławek, monuments have been placed in his honour. In 2013, six months before her death, Marianna Popiełuszko - mother of Fr. Popiełuszko - became an Honorary Citizen of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. A year later, the Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko Youth Education Centre was opened in Górsk.
978-83-949231-6-7 publication date 2020 edition 500 copies publisher Agencja Reklamowa GALL sc ul. Szosa Chełmińska 50, 87-100 Toruń gall@gall.torun.pl commissioned by Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region
Contact: Office of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region in Toruń Address: Plac Teatralny 2, 87-100 Toruń, tel. +48 56: 6218600, 6218610 e-mail: punkt.informacyjny@kujawsko-pomorskie.pl www.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl facebook.com/WojewodztwoKujawskoPomorskie twitter.com/lubietubyc instagram.com/kujawskopomorskie youtube.com/user/umwkp issuu.com/kujawsko-pomorskie flickr.com/photos/kujawskopomorskie
text
Maciej Jasiński illustrations
Krzysztof Wyrzykowski He did not fight with a weapon in his hand and he did not defeat his opponents in duels. What’s more - from a human point of view - he lost. He died, murdered by those who were on the side of violence and evil. So how can he be considered a comic-book hero? - someone will ask. And yet, in my opinion - and I’m sure in the opinion of the majority of us – Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, like only a few people can be, deserves to be called a hero. An unwavering man who, in the face of harrasment, persecution and torture, remained faithful. Faithful to himself and to what he believed in. He was a hero of the spirit. Something that we tend to forget about in our materialistic, electronic and pragmatic world. We deny its existence, fascinated only with „here and now”. He was a hero of something that you can not touch or see, but - as Popiełuszko’s example teaches – can inexplicably decide the fate of not only the individual, but also the entire nation. „Overcome evil with good” – preached the chaplain of „Solidarity”, echoing not only St. Paul and the “Polish Pope”, John Paul II, but also with what Marianna Popiełuszko taught him from when he was only little. A mother who was able to forgive her son’s murderers. Honorary Citizen of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Piotr Całbecki Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
ISBN 978-83-949231-6-7