The role of the Church in Poland’s regaining independence in 1918, as well as youth ministry in the perspective of the upcoming synod of bishops and the World Youth Days, will be the main themes of the 378th Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishop’s Conference, said spokesman, Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik. The meeting will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Warsaw with guests from abroad. The first day of the session will end with the Holy Mass on the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis.
“Polish bishops will begin their session on Tuesday, March 13, in the Secretariat of the Polish Bishops’ Conference. On this day they will listen, among others, to the lecture by Prof. Jan Żaryn devoted to the role of the Church in Poland’s regaining independence in 1918, and they will start a discussion on this subject” – said the spokesman of the Episcopate.
During the Assembly, Bishop Marek Solarczyk will present the issue of youth ministry in the context of the upcoming synod of bishops and the World Youth Days in Panama. The theme of the 15th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled from October 3 to 28 in Rome, will be: “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment”. As Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik said, from March 19-24 a pre-synod meeting of young people with the participation of two delegates from Poland will take place in Rome.
“On the first day of the session, the bishops will discuss the pastoral care of the Polish community and Poles abroad. They will also listen to the report of the Archbishop Wiktor Skworc from the Roman symposium on ecology, in which he took part at the end of February. The meeting concerned, among others, the preparations for the UN climate summit, which will take place in December in Katowice” – says the spokesman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.
On Tuesday there are also invited guests from abroad. The representatives of the Bishops’ Conferences of Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic will take the floor. The meeting will also be attended by representatives of the bishops from Germany, Moldova, Scandinavia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine.
The first day of the Plenary Assembly will conclude with the Holy Mass on the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. “For the first time, it will be celebrated at the Temple of Divine Providence. The solemn Eucharist at 17.30 with the participation of the Polish Episcopate will be presided by the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio”- said Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik.
On the second day of the session, the bishops will deal with matters of pastoral care of families and pastoral care of prisoners in the context of penitentiary reforms in Poland. They will also make elections for the Commissions, Councils, and Groups of the Bishops’ Conference. During the session, it will be also reminded the 25th anniversary of the Polish Catholic News Agency (KAI). A Communication will be issued at the end of the meeting.
