Jerzy Popiełuszko
1947-1984 20th century Feast day: October 19
Disarming fear; refusing revenge without conceding anything of the truth.
Who was Jerzy Popiełuszko?
The son of Podlasie peasants, a priest of frail health, in Warsaw he became chaplain to the steelworkers and then to the banned Solidarity union. Each month his Mass for the Homeland drew tens of thousands who came to hear an unarmed man speak of truth and refuse hatred. Abducted on 19 October 1984 by three officers of the political police, he was beaten and thrown into the Vistula; he was found eleven days later.
In their own words
An idea that needs rifles in order to live dies of itself.
Whoever has overcome fear within himself is truly free.
Let us pray to be freed from fear and intimidation, but above all from any desire for revenge and violence.