October 19, 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Jerzy Popie\u0142uszko, the Polish martyr who stood up to the communist government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jerzy Popie\u0142uszko was born on September 14, 1947 in Poland. During the years of communist repression, Popie\u0142uszko accompanied Polish workers and Catholics as a priest. Associated with the \"Solidarity\" trade union, he had no qualms about speaking out about abuses committed by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the imposed censorship, the priest encouraged his fellow citizens to peaceful resistance. His homilies brought together thousands of people every week, who saw in Popie\u0142uszko a beacon of hope and an example of fortitude in the face of the attitude of the communists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the fact that the Polish priest constantly launched appeals for peace and asked to avoid feelings of revenge, the S\u0142u\u017cba Bezpiecze\u0144stwa Ministerstwa Spraw Wewn\u0119trznych, the intelligence service of the communist government,decided to end Jerzy's life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attempts of the secret police were several, but they failed. If at first the agents wanted to provoke a car accident, when they saw that Popie\u0142uszko survived they changed the plan and kidnapped the priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On October 19, 1984, three members of the S\u0142u\u017cba Bezpiecze\u0144stwa violently assaulted Jerzy Popie\u0142uszko and locked him in a trunk. After a brutal beating, they threw the priest, still alive, into the Vistula River with a sack of stones tied to his body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Polish people mourned the death of Jerzy Popie\u0142uszko, whose body was not recovered until October 30. Such was the affection the faithful felt for the priest that half a million people attended his funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not surprising that St. John Paul II<\/a> to promote the process of beatification of the young martyr. However, he was his successor, Benedict XVI<\/a>who declared Jerzy Popie\u0142uszko blessed on June 6, 2010. The cause of canonization is still open and the martyr's tomb is a place of pilgrimage attended by millions of people.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" El 19 de octubre de 2024 se cumplen 40 a\u00f1os de la muerte de Jerzy Popie\u0142uszko, el m\u00e1rtir polaco que se enfrent\u00f3 al gobierno comunista. Jerzy Popie\u0142uszko naci\u00f3 el 14 de septiembre de 1947 en Polonia. Durante los a\u00f1os de represi\u00f3n del comunismo, Popie\u0142uszko acompa\u00f1\u00f3 como sacerdote a los trabajadores y a los cat\u00f3licos polacos. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1436,"featured_media":42576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,548],"tags":[883],"class_list":["post-42574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelizacion","category-foco","tag-polonia"],"yoast_head":"\n