Last Wednesday, 14th April, in the Franciscan church of St. Saviour in Jerusalem, the Catholic community prayed for the 96 victims of the air crash on 10th April near the airport of Smolensk in Russia. The Polish President, Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria and other figures of the country’s political, military, social and ecclesiastical life were going to Katyń to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Poles assassinated under the Soviet regime at the beginning of World War II, in Spring 1940.
The Custos, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa presided the Eucharist for the repose of the souls of the Polish Presidential delegation. The church was filled not only with Poles but also priests, nuns and lay people from other countries. His Beatitude Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem also took part in the prayer, after having already paid tribute to the victims last Sunday during the Mass celebrated in the Latin Patriarchate on Divine Mercy Sunday. In his moving address, he underlined that the tragedy of the Polish nation fills us with sadness but also puts us all in front of the mercy of God to whom we entrust the victims, their families and the whole country struck by such a great tragedy.
The prayer of the international community, the Custos said at the start of the Mass, is the sign of solidarity in the mourning and suffering of the whole Polish nation, which is going through difficult days after the tragic death of the President and the members of his delegation. In his homily, Father Antonio Szlachta compared the tears of the motherland after the death of her illustrious sons and daughters to the tears of the widowed mother of Naim. As Christians, he said, we have to look at this tragedy in the light of the Resurrection of Christ, whose empty tomb we venerate in Jerusalem.
The highest authorities of the Polish Diplomatic Corps attended the Mass in St. Saviour, with Mrs. Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska, the Ambassador to Israel and Mr. Bogusław Ochodek, representative of Poland to the Independent Government of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
After the Mass, many participants expressed their sympathy for Poland by signing the book of condolences.
Fr. Jerzy Kraj ofm
The Custos, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa presided the Eucharist for the repose of the souls of the Polish Presidential delegation. The church was filled not only with Poles but also priests, nuns and lay people from other countries. His Beatitude Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem also took part in the prayer, after having already paid tribute to the victims last Sunday during the Mass celebrated in the Latin Patriarchate on Divine Mercy Sunday. In his moving address, he underlined that the tragedy of the Polish nation fills us with sadness but also puts us all in front of the mercy of God to whom we entrust the victims, their families and the whole country struck by such a great tragedy.
The prayer of the international community, the Custos said at the start of the Mass, is the sign of solidarity in the mourning and suffering of the whole Polish nation, which is going through difficult days after the tragic death of the President and the members of his delegation. In his homily, Father Antonio Szlachta compared the tears of the motherland after the death of her illustrious sons and daughters to the tears of the widowed mother of Naim. As Christians, he said, we have to look at this tragedy in the light of the Resurrection of Christ, whose empty tomb we venerate in Jerusalem.
The highest authorities of the Polish Diplomatic Corps attended the Mass in St. Saviour, with Mrs. Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska, the Ambassador to Israel and Mr. Bogusław Ochodek, representative of Poland to the Independent Government of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
After the Mass, many participants expressed their sympathy for Poland by signing the book of condolences.
Fr. Jerzy Kraj ofm