As scores of Corpus Christi processions took place across Poland on Thursday, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz told the faithful in Warsaw that the Church is needed to preach the message of love and justice to all people of goodwill and beyond divisions of nation, language, or political leanings.
“The Church is one and common for all. It is not tied to any nation even if some would like it to be,” said the Cardinal, adding that the Church “cannot be instrumentalized for any national cause nor limit itself to one option as it must preach the gospel for everyone and to everyone.”
Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki in his homily in Poznań underlined that the “Church serves the unity of individuals, marriage, the nation and unity between nations.” He emphasized the need for forgiveness and reconciliation between the peoples of Poland and Ukraine.
The Archbishop told the faithful that nations were composed of families united by ties of culture, language, and history. Keeping their language, traditions, and values gives individuals an identity, enabling them to find their place in the world. “This is why nothing can substitute for either family or nation,” emphasized Archbishop Gądecki.
Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski in Kraków said there was no other road for Poland but keeping the faith in the Church’s teachings. He observed that the Church in Poland always defended Poland and its identity.
“If God in his infinite wisdom ordained that the Church should be so present in the life of our nation then we can say that keeping the faith with the Church’s teachings means staying loyal to our motherland,” he said.
The Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, commonly known as Corpus Christi in Poland, was established for the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264 with the papal bull “Transiturus.” It is a movable feast, and in Poland it falls on the Thursday following the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.
