Brooklyn, N.Y. .. “Do not be afraid” was the message Pope John Paul II sent his countrymen in Poland in the 1980’s when they were struggling to rid their land of
Communist oppression and terror.
Those were the years the Solidarity Labor Movement rose to challenge the Communist system the Russians forced on Poland. The unrelenting pressure from Lech Walesa and the Solidarity workers eventually brought about the collapse of the system and allowed the Germans to later tear down their Berlin Wall.
From his pulpit in Warsaw’s St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Father Jerzy Popieluszko conveyed John Paul’s words of guidance and encouragement to his Polish
parishioners every month in the church’s “Mass for the Homeland.”
This inspirational counsel struck fear and terror as far away as KGB headquarters inside Russia’s Kremlin where the Communist gangsters came to the conclusion
the only way to silence this troublesome Polish priest was to kill him.
After continual intimidation and many threats, the order for a mob-type execution was carried out on October 19,1984 with the priest’s body later dumped into the Vistula
River.
The 25th anniversary of this anti-Polish and anti-Catholic crime was observed this Sunday at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn followed by special
commemorative ceremonies at the nearby Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square in McCarren Park.
Shown above is Rev. Marek Sobczak (right), pastor of the church as he leads his parishioners in a prayer service at the square. The Father Popieluszko monument is visible in the background (left).
With Rev. Sobczak are Frank Milewski, president of the Downstate Division of the Polish American Congress and Michael Pajak (holding umbrella), president of the John Paul II Foundation. A color guard from the Liga Morska (Polish Sea League of America) can be seen behind Rev. Sobczak.
The City of New York reached an agreement with the Polish American Congress to name a section of McCarren Park in memory of the Polish priest with former Mayor
Edward I. Koch dedicating the square in October, 1986.
With cooperation from St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Mr. Pajak’s John Paul II Foundation has acted as caretaker of the square and arranged commemorative services there every year since then.
Photo by: Polish American Concress