Westminster Record
December 2018/January 2019| 20p
We Remember
The light of Christ breaking into the darkness
70 years of Religous Profession
Pages 4 & 5
Pages 12 & 13
Page 21
November 11 this year marked the centenary of the signing of the Armistice, when we remembered the sacrifices of the First World War. It also marked the centenary of Poland’s independence, an event that was celebrated in style by the Polish community of London. It is no coincidence that these anniversaries are commemorated on the same day, as the history of Polish independence is closely intertwined with the political events that shaped the world before and during the Great War, as Professor Wojciech Roszkowski, economist and politician, explained in a lecture to the congregation gathered for the Mass marking the occasion in Westminster Cathedral on 10th November. In 1914, Poland had been under the partitioned rule of the Prussian, Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires for over a hundred years, and ‘no Pole could have imagined that a mere five years later they would wake up in an independent Poland’.
He recounted how the events of the War and the changing fortunes of these empires during the conflict created the opportunity for the creation of a Polish Republic. Even the peace conference in Paris in June 1919 helped to determine some of the borders of Poland. ‘The memory of 1918 is very different in each European nation,’ he said. ‘France and Great Britain mainly remember the terrible sacrifice of soldiers who lost their lives to secure victory, and the horrors of trench war; whereas in Poland the War Dead are remembered as revered heroes fighting for freedom, the human price of that freedom sometimes forgotten.’ For this reason the Polish community comes together annually to remember the War Dead and to celebrate the country’s independence on the same day, with Mass forming a central part of these celebrations in recognition of the significant role of the Catholic faith in Polish life and culture.
© Ryszard Szydlo
© Ryszard Szydlo
100 Years of Polish Independence
As Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Archbishop of Gniezno and Primate of Poland, who presided, reminded the congregation of the words of St John Paul: ‘Poles wherever they are in the world, generally retain the bond with their homeland through the Church, through the memory of Our Lady of Częstochowa, through
our Patron Saints, through all those religious traditions that have sustained our nation for a thousand years, and are still alive today.’ These words were visually manifest in the banners of Pope St John Paul and Our Lady of Częstochowa that took pride of place at the foot of the sanctuary.
Elements of this culture were also on display in the costumes of the Scouts and young people who attended in traditional dress, the Knights and Dames of the Orders of Holy Sepulchre and of Malta, and in the colourful banners on display during the procession. Continued on page 8