To the Polish Community (30 May 1982)

On Sunday, 30 May1982, the Holy Father addressed the Polish Community, to whom he spoke of “English Poland,” the Polish airmen who helped defend Britain in the Second World War.

Dear brothers and sisters, beloved compatriots!

1. The words pronounced by Cardinal Heenan, Primate of England, when during the Council he visited the Polish Bishops who were staying in the Aventine College have been imprinted in my memory with wonderful force. He began his speech with these words: “ Polish airmen saved Britain! ”.

I refer to these words on this day, because it seems to me that in them we must seek an answer to the question of your identity here. Who are you? Are you just a community of emigrants, similar to many others that exist across the globe? Yes of course. And we must certainly look for the analogy here with the Great Emigration of the last century, which was mainly concentrated in France. And yet there is something particular that, in a certain sense, does not allow us to think of you with the categories of "emigration" ; at least it does not allow us to think this way about those whom Cardinal Heenan had before his eyes, when he said: "Polish airmen saved Great Britain!".

We cannot think of you starting from the concept of "emigration"; we need to think, starting from the "Homeland" reality . It is true that before the Second World War there were a certain number of Polish emigrants in England. However, those who found themselves there as part of the war events were not emigrants. They were Poland torn from its borders, from its battlefields; Poland awakened, just twenty years earlier, to independent existence; Poland which was rapidly rebuilding itself from centuries-old destruction and damage; finally, Poland, which they attempted once again to divide, as in the 18th century, by imposing a horrible murderous war on it, with the prevailing forces of the invaders.

That's how it is. What today we are used to calling "English Poland" was formed as the very marrow of Poland fighting for the holy cause of its independence. Such Poland constituted the airmen, who defended the British Isles; the fighting divisions and brigades near Narvik; the divisions and brigades, which reached from the bottom of the Soviet republics of Eastern Europe and Asia, and then through Persia, the Middle East, Egypt and Libya on the Apennine peninsula, Monte Cassino, “ contributing to the restitution of freedom to the Italian land ”. I still have before my eyes that inscription placed across the road in Bologna that leads from the war cemetery to the center of the city (I was traveling along it on 18 April this year); the inscription read: “Through this path your countrymen entered, bringing us freedom - through the same path you bring us faith”.

2. What I say flows from the living sense of history . You, who created today's "English Poland", are for me first and foremost not emigration, but first of all the living part of Poland, which, although far from its native land, does not cease to be itself . Indeed, he lives with the conviction that in it, precisely in this part, the whole lives in a particular way.

If I found myself on English soil as a pilgrim, a Pope-pilgrim, and, at the same time, a son of your own land, I cannot help but express, first of all, this truth about you : the truth that I have always felt. I felt its organic authenticity and, at the same time, its profound tragedy.

3. In fact, it is not possible, recognizing your irrevocable right to be (originally) a singular part of Poland: government, army, administration, power structures for the country and outside it, it is not possible, I say, especially as the years passed, not to encounter this painful physical "absence" , into which your so lively and so splendid, historical immovable presence of Poland had to be transformed. . . outside Poland. One cannot fail to remember, once again, the Great Emigration and those great, greater spirits, who, guided by the sense of living presence, prayed to the absent one: “my homeland! you are like health: only he who has lost you learns to fully appreciate you! Today your beauty, in all its splendor, I see and describe because in exile, I long for you!” ( Pan Tradeusz , trans. by Clotilde Garosci, Turin 1955, 2nd ed .).

A wonderful, somehow mystery of consciences and hearts began in the last century and is repeating itself again in the current century. Poland is one of the most tested countries on the globe. One of the homelands most deeply plowed by suffering and simultaneously one of the most loved . Perhaps the mystery of this unusual love of country is compounded by that wonderful spiritual shift: for many of her sons and daughters and often for the best ones she is spiritually present through physical absence. And then, for those who live in the country, this absence is not just absence. It's a challenge. The “absent” not only are “not right”; they, at the same time, bear historical witness . They talk about Poland as it was, and as it should be. They talk about what its true price was, and what it remains.

Therefore, your sacrifice and your effort, the blood of many of our brothers and sisters, despite not having fully achieved the objectives for which they fought, were not in vain.

History, especially the history of our homeland, is full of noble works. We also see them in contemporary times. It is known that efforts aimed at freedom, respect for the dignity of man, respect for his work, the possibility of living in peace with one's conscience and one's beliefs, have apparently not achieved the desired objectives. However, they changed the soul of the Nation, its awareness. These efforts lift the soul. They indicate that in life there are other values, spiritual, moral, which are not measured against material values, but are decisive values ​​in the correct hierarchy of human existence.

4. Where does this internal strength of Polish emigration come from? Its sources must be sought near the Vistula, in the faith of the Poles and in their culture. It is, as I said in Gniezno during the pilgrimage to my homeland, “the expression of man. . . Man creates it and, through it, man creates himself. . . And at the same time he creates culture in communion with others. . . Polish culture is an asset on which the spiritual life of Poles relies. It distinguishes us as a nation. It decides about us throughout the course of history, it decides even more than political borders. It is known that the Polish nation has gone through the ordeal of losing its independence for more than a hundred years. And in the midst of this ordeal she always remained herself. She remained spiritually independent because she had her own culture. Indeed, in the periods of partition it still enriched and deepened it a lot, because only through the creation of a culture can it be preserved".

It must be said today that this was also the case after the Second World War. The merits of your emigration in the field of research and publications concerning the history of Poland, in particular its history in the last century, are commonly known. It is a great contribution to knowledge of the true history of the nation. If this contribution of research and publications were missing, knowledge of the past of national history would not be full.

5. I also said in Gniezno that Polish culture carries within it clear Christian characteristics and it is no coincidence that the first literary monument, which bears witness to this, is the song Bogurodzica ("Gentress of God").

Precisely to these Christian roots we must always return, and grow from them anew in every era, because this is the truth about man. He must always discover it anew.

Emigration will carry out its mission all the more effectively, the higher its ethical level, the more Christ will be the center of its life and its action, the more it will believe that only he is "the way, the truth and the life" ( Jn 14:6).

In the encyclical Redemptor Hominis I wrote that "Jesus Christ meets man of every era, even our era with the same words: "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free". . . Even today, after two thousand years, Christ appears to us as the One who brings man freedom based on truth. . .” (John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis , 12).

It must be said that you have understood and continue to understand the need for a bond with faith and with the Church. And therefore this Emigration, as part of the Nation, contained all the strata with the entire social profile, with the political, cultural, scientific, professional institutions, but also with the entire ecclesiastical organization. From the first moment the Church was present with its structures; there was the Bishop, the unforgettable Archbishop Giuseppe Gawlina, and later Rector of the Polish Mission in England; there were priests and religious organizations, which developed. These centers were among the first organized. Thanks to the understanding and benevolence of the local Hierarchy, but above all thanks to your generosity and the sacrificial work of the priests, many Polish Churches and Chapels have arisen, which serve precisely to deepen your bonds with Christ and introduce you to the divine Mysteries, joining with him. Polish language schools were organized at the pastoral centers.

6. The link with Polish culture is realized in the paternal home, in religious life and in the life of organizations. Instead, school, higher studies and professional life unite with the culture of the country of residence. The link between the country of the ancestors and the country of residence is created precisely at the level of culture. It provides a correct perspective on coexistence and through education prepares a young person both for the tasks in the emigration environment and also for assuming the appropriate attitude in life.

Therefore, one of the most important tasks is the transmission of one's ideas to the new generations. Emigration must be suitable for an adequate education of the total man. Only in this case will the young generation be able to take on the idea of ​​freedom and seriousness from the fading generation.

The education of the total man - education in truth and education in the Christian and Polish tradition - begins in the family. The current state of public morality does not always ensure the family, and especially the parents, the necessary authority that they deserve.

There are various causes that contribute to this. The family therefore needs particular pastoral concern. Only the family, strong in God, aware of its Christian duties, can be able to carry out the tasks of educating the total man, since, as I said on another occasion, "the work of educating man cannot be it is accomplished only with the help of institutions , with the help of organized and material means, however excellent they may be. . . the most important is always man , man and his moral authority , which derives from the truth of his principles and the conformity of his actions with these principles” (John Paul II, Allocutio ad UNESCO habita , 11, die 2 June . 1980 : Teachings of John Paul II , III, 1 [1980] 1645).

I therefore raise my voice today from this place with the words of the apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio : “family, discover this irrepressible appeal, which is found within yourself! Family, “become” what you “are”! Convened as a domestic Church by the Word and the Sacrament, it becomes both, like the great Church, teacher and mother!” (John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio , 17.38).

7. You wanted our meeting today to coincide with your central pilgrimage on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the presence of the Mother of God, in her Miraculous Image, in Jasna Góra. We know what this Sanctuary, this Effigy of Jasna Góra was and is for the Polish nation.

By joining in this common intention of yours, which is also mine, allow me to recall to our memory the great figure, the late Primate of Poland Cardinal Stefano Wyszynski. I do this in our assembly on the first anniversary of his death and his funeral, of his transition from this earthly homeland, which he so inflexibly served, to the House of the Father.

I do this, in today's assembly with the same love with which all Poles at home and abroad surrounded him, looking at him as a providential man, given to the homeland during the times of difficult choices and during the time of the new path. I see in him, like all of you, the man linked to the depths of his soul with the mystery of the Mother of Jasna Góra present in the life of her children and in the life of our nation.

Those who left the country, whether in search of bread or for other reasons, brought with them the image of Jasna Góra or Ostrobrama. It was an external sign of their faith and attachment to Christ and Poland. The first emigrants to this country, those of the last century, brought the image of the Mother of God of Czestochowa both to Manchester and here to London. When Cardinal Augustus Hlond blessed the first Church in Devonia, he dedicated it to the Mother of God of Czestochowa.

This image, during the last war, was in almost all the chapels of the military camps, and the same images were often found in the uniforms of the Polish soldiers. The images of the Lady of Czestochowa are found in every Church, where you gather for prayer, particularly to attend Sunday Mass. It is in almost every emigrant home.

The Jubilee Year is the year of a particular renewal of faith and family life. It is necessary that parents, looking at Mary, become aware again of their responsibility and educational tasks. Certainly many families recite the Appeal of Jasna Góra: that “Mary, Queen of Poland, I am close to you, I remember you, I am awake”. We are close to her and we are watching! Let the elders be near her and keep watch. Let the young people keep watch. I address you in a particular way, dear Young Friends. Have the courage to take on this difficult legacy and develop it. There are many problems today, so many values, which require us to be vigilant, so that man does not erase in himself, in his bonds and social relationships, the image and likeness of God, inscribed in him by the Creator and renewed from Christ; may he not erase it in others!

8. It is no coincidence that this unusual meeting of ours today takes place on the Solemnity of Pentecost.

“Come, Holy Spirit, / send us from heaven / a ray of your light”.

Convince us regarding sin, justice and judgment (cf. John 16:8).

Guide us to the whole truth (cf. Jn 16, 13).

Glorify Christ in us, take from him and reveal it to us (cf. John 16:14).

Remind us of everything that Christ told us (cf. Jn 14, 26).

Let not our hearts be troubled and let us not be afraid (cf. Jn 14:27).

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