His former and childhood parish (Holy Rosary Church) happens to be a Polish Roman Catholic church, famed among certain devotees for also being visited in 1976 by Karol Józef Wojtyła (John Paul II) two years before his selection as Pope, when he was but a member of the College of Cardinals.
The service this year (unusual, according to Bill) was completely in Polish due in no small part to the airplane crash on April 10th that killed Polish President, Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria, as well as the "mother" of Solidarity (Solidarność), Anna Walentynowicz and 94 other officials of the military and government who were on their way to the remembrance ceremony at the actual site of Katyń within Russian territory.
A simple framed photo montage including several of the plane crash victims was perched front and center of the ornate sanctuary.
At one moment during the service, we joined hands within our pew in a natural, poignant gesture of prayer, surrender and solidarity.
Later, we gathered in a smallish auditorium down the street in a building that now houses the Polish National Catholic organization headquarters where the governor, a senator and several other officials, including representatives of the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. gathered to specifically remember the Katyń Massacre (as it was threatening rain, the planned memorial site ceremony had been diverted).
2006 Katyń Memorial Ceremony in Baltimore
A lady rabbi recited kaddish in memory of the 700 out of the approximately 22,000 victims who were of Jewish ancestry.
Meanwhile, world leaders, including the American president, were forced to cancel travel plans to Poland for the funeral of President Lech Kaczyński (also yesterday) as volcanic ash from Iceland continued to ground flights to and from Europe.
And what of future relations between Russians and Poles?
Between various . . . . north, south and even east and west . . . poles?
For Russian and Polish peoples, specifically, one Polish account seems strangely hopeful.
In the account from thenews.pl (Polskie Radio) it is noted that:
"Recently the most popular searched for words in Yandex, the biggest Russian search engine, have been: Katyn, Smolensk and Poland.
"We keep receiving phone calls from people who say that they saw the funeral of the presidential couple in Krakow on TV and they were impressed by the city’s beautiful churches, castles and tenement houses," says the owner of a travel agency from Kaliningrad. A travel agency in Sankt Petersburg is also reportedly being bombarded with questions about trips to Krakow.
Are Russians fall [ing] in love with Krakow???
White Eagle meet Double-headed Eagle?
Can mass (or numerous) weddings of Russians and Poles be far behind? [seriously]
Let the words unspoken by the late President Lech Kaczyński echo solemnly to propel forward the future history of these two great nations within our common (worldwide) aspirations toward true peace:
The tragic Katyń Crime and the battle against lies connected with it constitute an important experience for future generations of Poles. This is a part of our history, our memory, and identity – and it is also a part of the history of Europe and the world at large. It is a message concerning every individual and all nations which is about both the past and the future of human civilization.
The Katyń Crime will forever remind us of the threat of nations and people being enslaved and destroyed. It will remind us that lies can indeed be powerful, but it will also be a token of the fact that people and nations can – even in the most difficult of times – choose freedom and defend the truth. Let us together pay our tribute to the victims by praying at their graves.
Glory to the heroes! Venerate their memory!
The complete text of the speech (not really the final version, sadly), "Freedom and Truth," written for the occasion of remembrance of the Katyń Massacre can be found here.
Godandgulags© statement of purpose:
Remembrance is essential, especially where and when details (like people) are either lost, forgotten, covered-up or destroyed (e.g., Katyń, Armenia, Cuba, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, et al); IF or for as long as we who describe ourselves as sentient human beings remain, exist -- live. We simply must remember even when the dead (and/or imprisoned) cannot.
