Jerzy Popiełuszko ( born Alfons Popiełuszko; 14 September 1947 – 19 October 1984) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest who became associated with the opposition

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

trade union in communist Poland. He was murdered in 1984 by three agents of , who were shortly thereafter tried and convicted of the murder. Popiełuszko has been recognized as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and was beatified on 6 June 2010 by Cardinal Angelo Amato on behalf of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. An alleged miracle attributed to his intercession, which could lead to his

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

, is now under investigation.

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Popiełuszko was born on 14 September 1947 in Okopy, near Suchowola. After finishing school, he attended the priests' seminary at

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In 1966–1968, he served his army duties in a special force in Bartoszyce, aimed at keeping young men from becoming priests. This treatment had no effect on Popiełuszko's beliefs, as, after finishing his army service, he continued his studies; however, the repeated punishments for his resistance affected his health for the rest of his life. Popiełuszko, with seminary superiors' permission, changed his name from Alfons to Jerzy because the word "alfons" was used to describe a person (especially a man) who deals with

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

, giving it a negative connotation in Warsaw. Popiełuszko was ordained a priest by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in May 1972. As a young priest he first served in Ząbki near Warsaw in 1972–1975. Afterwards, he served in parishes in Warsaw, which consisted of the common people as well as students. In 1981, Jerzy Popiełuszko joined the workers, taking part with strikers in the Warsaw Steelworks. Thereafter he was associated with workers and trade unionists from the

movement who opposed the communist regime in Poland. He was a staunch opponent of the communist regime and, in his sermons, interwove spiritual exhortations with political messages, criticizing the government, expressing solidarity with the interned and motivating people to protest. During the period of

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

, the Catholic Church was the only force that could voice protest comparatively openly, with the regular celebration of

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

presenting opportunities for public gatherings in churches. Jerzy Popieluszko Funeral - 37

Popiełuszko's sermons were routinely broadcast by

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, and thus became known throughout Poland for their uncompromising stance against the regime.

Assassination

Invited by the Pastoral Care of the Working People (), Popiełuszko arrived in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

on 19 October 1984. At 18:00, he celebrated Holy Mass at the Church of the Holy Polish Brothers Martyrs. A car accident had been set up to kill Popiełuszko on 13 October 1984 but he evaded it. The alternative plan was to kidnap him; it was carried out on 19 October 1984. The priest was beaten to death by three Security Police officers: Captain Grzegorz Piotrowski, Leszek Pękala, and Waldemar Chmielewski. They pretended to have problems with their car and flagged down Popiełuszko's car for help. Popiełuszko was severely beaten, tied up and put in the trunk of the car. The officers bound a stone to his feet and dropped him into the Vistula Water Reservoir near Włocławek from where his body was recovered on 30 October 1984. A day after the discovery, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

acknowledged that Polish people lamented as they were aware of Popiełuszko's passing. Reagan stated that Popiełuszko "was a champion of Christian values and a courageous spokesman for the cause of liberty." News of the political murder caused an uproar throughout Poland, and the murderers and one of their superiors, Colonel Adam Pietruszka, were convicted of the crime. A huge crowd estimated to be between 600,000 to 1million, including

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałę ...

, attended his funeral on 3 November 1984. The murder was widely used in political propaganda of the Polish opposition in the late 1980s. Popiełuszko's murderers – Captain Grzegorz Piotrowski, Leszek Pękala, Waldemar Chmielewski and Colonel Adam Pietruszka, responsible for giving the order to kill – received prison sentences. Popiełuszko was posthumously awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest decoration, in 2009. He was buried in St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Warsaw, where millions of visitors paid tribute, including famous politicians like U.S. Vice President George Bush in September 1987.

Legacy

Media

Noted Polish composer Andrzej Panufnik composed his Bassoon Concerto (1985) in memory of Popiełuszko. The work is inspired by Popiełuszko's work and death. '' To Kill a Priest'' (1988) is a movie directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring Christopher Lambert as a character based on Jerzy Popiełuszko. A track entitled " Homily to Popiełuszko" is featured on the B-side to the album '' Flajelata'' (1986) by Muslimgauze. The entire B-side of that album is dedicated to all dissidents from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. A transcript of the trial of Popiełuszko's murderers was used in producing a play, Ronald Harwood's documentary drama '' The Deliberate Death of a Polish Priest.'' It was premiered at the Almeida Theatre in October 1985. A movie, '' Popieluszko: Freedom is Within Us'', documenting the life and death of Popiełuszko, was released in Poland in February 2009. Another film, '' Jerzy Popieluszko: Messenger of the Truth'', was produced by Paul G. Hensler in 2013. In the television show ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...

'', the episode " Duty and Honor" in season one featured a fictional Polish resistance leader loosely based on Popiełuszko. In their work '' Manufacturing Consent'', Edward S. Herman and

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

used Popiełuszko's murder and subsequent media coverage in the

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as a case study of their " propaganda model", in which it is compared and contrasted with the coverage of murders of

Óscar Romero Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador, Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular ...

and other

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n clergy by US-backed forces.

Monuments

There are numerous monuments to Fr. Popiełuszko in Poland, including the towns of Suchowola, where he attended and graduated high school, Bartoszyce, where he served his army duties, and Ząbki, where he first served as a priest. The places of his kidnapping in Górsk and death in Włocławek are commemorated with monuments in the form of crosses. There is also a museum dedicated to him in Suchowola. The first monument of Jerzy Popiełuszko was created by Polish sculptor and dissident Marek Sobociński, and was unveiled in 1986 in Mariaholm near Askim,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. A monument to Fr. Popiełuszko in the form of a symbolic gravestone in the shape of a cross was erected by Chicago's Polish community in the garden of memory next to St. Hyacinth Basilica. A monument to Fr. Popiełuszko in the form of a bust bearing his likeness with a chain wrapped about his neck was erected on the property of Saint Hedwig Catholic Church in Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. A pocket park across from McCarren Park on the Williamsburg- Greenpoint border in Brooklyn, New York, a historically Polish neighborhood, is named for Fr. Popiełuszko and features a stone bust bearing his likeness. Popieluszko Court in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, was named in his memory. The SS. Cyril & Methodius Church is located on this street, serving as an important cornerstone for the area's Catholic Polish-American community. The street intersects with Charter Oak Boulevard, with the main entrance to the parking lot of the Polish National Home of Hartford across the street at the end of Popieluszko Court. A two-part monument has been installed in New Britain's Walnut Hill Park consisting of an inscribed stone plaque near an abstract sculpture of an eternal flame. The stone is inscribed with the Polish Title ''Zło Dobrem Zwyciężaj'': "This human rights monument of common fieldstone and steel is built in memory of Father Jerzy Popieluszko who gave his life to God and to the goals of ''Solidarność'' – human rights, justice, peace and freedom for Poland and for all mankind. May this eternal flame of liberty and the memory of his courage and sacrifice burn forever in the hearts of all freedom-loving people. 1947 Good shall vanquish evil 1984" The abstract sculpture of the eternal flame was created by Henry Chotkowski and dedicated on June 16, 1989. An aluminum plaque on the stone wall surrounding the sculpture explains the significance of the sculpture. The rock that was used to kill Popiełuszko was placed in the San Bartolomeo all'Isola in Rome as a relic of a 20th-century martyr, part of the memorial to 20th– and 21st–century martyrs. There are two monuments commemorating Father Popiełuszko in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. In 2017, a monument containing Father Popiełuszko's motto "Overcome evil with good" written in Polish and in Hungarian was unveiled in the Csepel district of the Hungarian capital. In Csepel, there is also a street named after Father Popiełuszko and a belfry in his honor. Meanwhile, in 2016 in the

Óbuda-Békásmegyer Óbuda-Békásmegyer is the List of districts in Budapest, 3rd district of Budapest, Hungary. Landmarks * Aquincum, ruins of the Roman city * Óbuda Jewish Cemetery * Római Part (Roman Beach) History The military camp, then city of Aquincum, l ...

district of Budapest there is a square named after Father Popiełuszko and a monument consisting of stones that make up a rosary featuring quotes by Popiełuszko. There is also a monument in the French city of Béziers.

Beatification and canonization

The

started the process of his

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

with the declaration of '' nihil obstat'' (nothing against) on 15 March 1996 and held a diocesan process from 8 February 1997 to 8 February 2001. This conferred upon him the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

. In 2008 the '' positio'' was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and on 19 December 2009 it was announced that

had approved the decree for the beatification of Father Popiełuszko. He was beatified by Archbishop Angelo Amato on 6 June 2010 in Warsaw's Piłsudski Square. His mother, Marianna Popiełuszko, was present at the event. More than 100,000 people attended the open-air Mass in the Polish capital Warsaw to beatify Father Jerzy Popieluszko. Poland Post issued a set of stamps on that same day to mark the beatification. In October 2013, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz – the Archbishop of Warsaw, the diocese where Popiełuszko was killed – announced that a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Polish priest has been identified and confirmed in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Thus Cardinal Nycz predicts that Popiełuszko will likely be

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

soon, based on the credibility of the case presented. A miracle was investigated in a diocesan process in France from 20 September 2014 until 14 September 2015 and the results of that investigation turned over to the Vatican for assessment.

References

External links

Bibliography

Museum and Other Pages at popieluszko.net.pl

''Popiełuszko. Wolność jest w nas'' (AKA: ''Popiełuszko. Freedom is inside us''), film, 2009

''Jerzy Popiełuszko: Messenger of the Truth'', film, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popiełuszko, Jerzy People from Sokółka County 20th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests Polish anti-communists Polish dissidents Solidarity (Polish trade union) activists Assassinated Polish people Assassinated activists Deaths by beating in Europe Nonviolence advocates Polish beatified people Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI Roman Catholic activists People murdered in Poland 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 20th-century venerated Christians 1947 births 1984 deaths Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Martyred Roman Catholic priests Murdered trade unionists Presidency of Ronald Reagan