Bishops celebrate Easter, Polish baptism anniversary
Poland's Catholic hierarchs in their Easter homilies marked this year's 1050th anniversary of Poland's conversion to Christianity and appealed to Poles for reconcilement.
In a Holy Saturday sermon in the catherdal of Poland's first historical capital Gniezno, Catholic Primate Wojciech Polak reminded that the 966 adoption of Christianity by Poland, marked by the baptism of its first ruler Mieszko I (allegedly on Holy Saturday, April 14), opened the country and its people to an "inexhaustible source of life".
"St. Augustine tells us that the baptismal water of salvation draws its strength from (...) the name of Jesus Christ, who gave his blood for us and this way himself opened for us an inexhaustible source of life. He is opening this door for us, just as 1050 years ago He opened it for our forefathers here in Gniezno. Today (...) we are celebrating the 1050th lithurgical anniversary of this important moment", Polak said.
Polish Episcopate head Stanislaw Gadecki in a televised adress Saturday appealed for "national reconcilement" and stressed that the resolution of the present crisis depended on "Poles who served the truth".
"This year's Easter feast is also an occasion to appeal for national reconcilement. After all, as St. Paul teaches, the resurrected Christ is our peace", the archbishop declared.
Referring to the 1050th anniversary of Poland's baptism, Gadecki remarked that the act "freed us from life in sin, resurrected us to new life and implanted us within the Church". Gadecki added that he wished this year's Easter to serve as a spiritual prelude to the July World Youth Day event in Krakow, south Poland.
Warsaw metropolitan bishop Kazimierz Nycz in an Easter homily in Warsaw's archcathedral recalled Pope Francis' admonitions to pass from verbal to practical compassion.
"Nothing is lost, everything can be rebuilt if we open ourselves to Divine mercy. What the Church is proposing - and what Pope Francis has expressed best - is to pass over to concrete deeds", Nycz admonished. He added that Christ wanted the faithful to be active in aiding the needy and reminded that "Easter was not taking place in separation from our problems".
Krakow bishop Stanislaw Dziwisz in an Easter homily in the city's Wawel Cathedral reminded about the role of the Church in strengthening the harmonious coexistence of nations and respect for human dignity. Recalling that this Easter marked the 1050th anniversary of Poland's conversion to Christianity, Dziwisz said that it was "unimaginable" how Poland's history would have developed without the Christian faith. (PAP)
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