Jerzy Popiełuszko, the chaplain of Solidarity, became a target of the communist regime’s hatred. He was brutally murdered on 19 October 1984. In his patriotic homilies, he preached the message of “forgiving the guilty.”
by Jan Hlebowicz
The telephone rang at the District Office of Internal Affairs. The officer on duty reluctantly picked up the receiver. A woman on the line introduced herself as the receptionist of a hotel in Przysiek, and reported that a man in torn clothes, with slight abrasions and a rope tied around his hands, had shown up at the hotel. “The man jumped out of the car he was driving,” the woman recounted in a trembling voice. The following day, an investigation was launched into “the kidnapping of Waldemar Chrostowski and Jerzy Popiełuszko by unknown perpetrators on the night of October 19, 1984, near Toruń.” Poles learned of Popiełuszko’s abduction that evening, from the main edition of “Dziennik Telewizyjny.” The nation was moved. Spontaneously, in churches all over the country, public prayers were organized for the safe return of the priest. A dozen or so days later, it was tragically revealed that Popiełuszko had been murdered. His body was pulled from the Vistula River reservoir in Włocławek.
I want to become a priest
Jerzy Popiełuszko was born on September 14, 1947, in Okopy, a small town in Podlasie. He became an altar boy at a young age. “I often saw him praying at the altar, staring at the painting, at the cross,” recalled Father Piotr Bożyk. After graduating from Suchowola High School in 1965, Jerzy entered the High Seminary in Warsaw. “I want to become a priest because I have a passion for this profession,” he wrote in his application. A year later, as part of the communist regime’s harassment of clergy, he was forcibly conscripted into the army. Popiełuszko was assigned to a special unit in Bartoszyce, where, like many of his seminary colleagues, he was subjected to humiliation and pressure to renounce his faith and God. “Ideological classes, following the directives of the Main Political Board, were designed to form a socialist worldview. Soldiers were required to attend political training and lectures given by very carefully selected, trained speakers, who had graduated from the Evening University of Marxism-Leninism.
From the first days of his service, Popiełuszko was “in the crosshairs.” When it was noticed that he was about to kneel down to pray, he was punished,” writes Dr. Milena Kindziuk, author of a biography of Popiełuszko. Once, the platoon commander ordered him to remove the rosary from his hands. “I refused, meaning I did not carry out the order. […] he ordered me to take off my shoes, pull the laces out of my shoes and unroll the footwraps. So I stood barefoot in front of him. Of course, at attention the whole time,” recounted Popiełuszko. He remained steadfast, though it took a toll on his health, ultimately landing him in the hospital. He was ordained a priest on May 28, 1972, by the Primate of Poland, Stefan Wyszyński. Popiełuszko became a resident of The Church of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Warsaw in May 1980. This was a special place for him, perhaps the most important on his path. “He came to the parish simple, and shy, as if frightened. I asked myself what kind of solace I would get from him. He did not rush to preach, and he avoided singing,” recalled the parish priest, Father Teofil Bogucki.
The Chaplain of Solidarity
Jerzy Popiełuszko came to the parish seeking rest, a slower pace of life, and the opportunity to recover his health. However, the socio-political upheavals that were taking place in Poland at the time dramatically altered these plans. The turning point came in 1980 when he celebrated a Holy Mass for striking workers. The August strikes were ongoing, and Solidarity was emerging. Poles protested across hundreds of workplaces, including the Warsaw Steelworks. On the third day of the strike, which was a Sunday, the steelworkers requested the Eucharist and began searching for a priest who would celebrate it for them. They approached the residence of the Primate of Poland, asking Cardinal Wyszyński to appoint a priest. The Primate assigned this task to his chaplain, who began his search in the Church of St. Stanislaus Kostka, located near the Steelworks. He found Popiełuszko in the sacristy and he immediately agreed to celebrate the Eucharist. “In the middle of the factory square, the steelworkers erected an altar made of planks and set up a two-and-a-half-meter cross. They also built a makeshift confessional from planks and crates. The experience was so moving for the steelworkers that some were moved to tears,” stated Dr. Kindziuk.
At the sight of Popiełuszko carrying the Blessed Sacrament, everyone fell to their knees. In his sermon, he emphasized the right of the steelworkers to strike and the importance of solidarity. From that moment, he became deeply involved in the Solidarity movement. He regularly visited the strikers and later invited them to the church. In April 1981, he participated in the ceremonial consecration of the Solidarity banner for the workers of the Warsaw Steelworks. He also brought Pope John Paul II’s social encyclical Laborem Exercens (On Human Work), published in September 1981, to the 1st National Congress of Solidarity Delegates in Gdańsk, explaining that “the Church’s task is to be with people in their fortunes and misfortunes.” Many workers converted to Christianity under Popiełuszko’s influence. The priest’s pro-Solidarity activities did not escape the attention of state authorities and security officers.
With a Christmas Wafer for Soldiers
In December 1981, the long-awaited Jasna Góra Image of the Visitation, a copy of the miraculous image of the Black Madonna, arrived at the parish. The three-day celebrations ended on December 13, 1981, the day martial law spread across the country. In this time, both the parish and the entire country were placed under the care of the Mother of God. That same day, security service officers appeared at the rectory, most likely planning to arrest the clergy. However, the parish priest firmly asked them to leave. In the meantime, Popiełuszko dedicated himself to supporting those in need. Through the Primate’s Committee for Aid to Persons Deprived of Liberty and Their Families, he collected donations, distributing them to the families of interned and arrested workers from the steelworks. One day, a visibly bruised and barefoot young worker who had been released from internment, knocked on the clergyman’s door. Jerzy Popiełuszko immediately took off his shoes and gave them to the mistreated person.
Despite condemning the martial law as evil, he appealed for [people to restrain their] anger and hatred. On Christmas Eve 1981, he personally brought the Holy Communion to soldiers standing guard at the brazier. Every last Sunday of the month, he celebrated a Holy Mass for the homeland, which drew crowds of people from across Poland. These services became a symbol of freedom in the oppressed country. “We want to forgive all our wrongdoers, just as You, Lord, forgive us our wrongdoing,” he said during one of the services. His homilies which were often based on St. Paul the Apostle’s exhortation to “overcome evil with good,” were widely circulated in the underground press and broadcast on Radio Free Europe. Popiełuszko was invited to other places, including Silesia, Jasna Góra and Bydgoszcz. He frequently visited Gdańsk – the cradle of Solidarity, where he usually delivered patriotic sermons at St. Bridget’s Church.
Sessions of Political Rage
Because of his involvement, Popiełuszko became enemy number one for the communist authorities. According to Dr. Kindziuk, “From the first sermon at the Mass for the homeland, increased surveillance of Popiełuszko began […]. From that time on, every sermon of his was recorded […]. Secret service officers were sent to every Holy Mass celebrated by him, observing the ceremony and taking photos from hiding,” enumerates Dr. Kindziuk. In addition to constant surveillance, the secret service began to harass the priest. He was surrounded by a network of informants, received threatening “silent telephone calls,” and faced false accusations sent to the curia. The secret service also staged a search of the priest’s apartment to find stacks of leaflets, weapons and ammunition, which had been planted earlier. These items were later used as evidence of Popiełuszko’s alleged anti-state activities. Consequently, the priest was arrested.
“I have always preached the truth. Apart from the Holy Mass for the homeland and charity work, I have done nothing else. I accept this provocation as a challenge from God to enhance the fruits of my patriotic and religious work. I do not want my situation [to be] used to make people take to the streets. I will not say anything during the testimony, and will not betray anyone. Please pray for me to have the strength to endure,” he managed to write in a secret message to his parish priest.
At that time, government spokesman Jerzy Urban told foreign journalists: “Jerzy Popiełuszko was invited for questioning by the prosecutor, as he was suspected of abusing the Church and his priestly function to conduct illegal political activities.” Popiełuszko spent two days in custody, from December 12 to 13, 1983. “In the cell […] I was ordered to strip naked […]. I was given a mattress and two cheap blankets and I lay down on the floor,” we read in his personal notes. Shortly after his release, the priest was summoned by the Primate of Poland, Józef Glemp. “The Cardinal accused the priest of preventing him from performing his previously entrusted duties,” notes Professor Jan Żaryn. “I was in favor of Popiełuszko moderating himself […]. I was also concerned that he would not go too far into political activity,” the Primate recalled years later in a conversation with journalist Piotr Litka. A few months later, a smear campaign against the priest began in the communist press. It was initiated by Leonid Toporkow’s article “A Lesson in Vain,” published in the Moscow daily Izvestia. “This text became a ‘significant impulse for the propaganda spiral of hatred’ towards Popiełuszko. The article stigmatized Popiełuszko, mentioning him by name. The text was supposed to be a kind of instruction for comrades in Poland, so that they could familiarize themselves with ‘possible directions of operational work’,” explains Dr. Kindziuk.
Shortly afterwards, Jerzy Urban, writing under the pseudonym Jan Rem, published his text against the priest in the weekly Tu i Teraz. In it, he described the holy masses for the homeland as “rage sessions,” Adding that “Jerzy Popiełuszko is therefore the organizer of a session of political rage.” Around the same time, in an interview for the BBC, Popiełuszko emphasized: “I am convinced that what I am doing is right. And that is why I am ready for anything.”
A face like pulp
Urban’s words spurred the secret service into action. During the trial, one of Popiełuszko’s murderers revealed that the officers “listened carefully to what the government spokesman was saying. They treated it as a kind of consent.” The first attempt on Popiełuszko’s life took place on October 13, 1984, when a car with the priest and the driver – a Solidarity activist – was pelted with stones at night on their way back from Gdańsk After this event, fully aware of the threat to his life, Popiełuszko resolutely declared: “‘I cannot betray these people, I cannot leave them.’ He said that fleeing to Rome would be an escape from the place where the Church had placed him […]. ‘Right, I was with them in difficult times and now I have to leave them? What will the Church give them – if I escape? If I betray them?’ Tears flowed from his eyes,” Zdzisław Król recalled of his last conversation with the priest.
Six days later, Popiełuszko went on another trip with his driver Waldemar Chrostowski – this time to the Church of the Holy Polish Martyr Brothers in Bydgoszcz. During the service that day, he told the faithful: “To overcome evil with good is to remain faithful to the truth.” On the way back, between Bydgoszcz and Toruń, their car was stopped by secret service officers. Popiełuszko was beaten and thrown into the trunk. The murderers used the “Italian choking” method on him, a torture method used by the mafia. They tied the priest’s legs, arms and neck with rope so that he would choke every time he tried to move. They stuffed gags into his mouth and nose so that he could not breathe. Finally, they threw the priest’s body into the Vistula River near the dam in Włocławek. “The face was like pulp, the eyes were blackened, the fingers and toes were brown and red, rotten in places. There was not much hair,” reported Grzegorz Kalwarczyk, who helped identify the body. Popiełuszko’s funeral ceremony turned into a massive patriotic demonstration. “Immense crowds […] reached the edge of the long church square. Banners and white-and-red flags hung on the fence around the church,” writes Prof. Żaryn. Currently, Jerzy Popiełuszko is honored in the Church as a martyr for the faith. In 2010, he was declared blessed.
