Increasingly frequent acts of hatred against believers, including priests, and acts of profanation of sacred objects, places and objects of worship, so important for the Catholics in Poland, arouse my highest concern, wrote the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, in a letter to Rev. Aleksander Ziejewski, parish priest of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Szczecin, who was beaten on Sunday July 28, 2019.
We publish the full text of the letter:
Venerable Prelate,
Archpriest,
It was with great sadness that I received information about the physical assault on your person, which occurred last Sunday in the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Szczecin.
I send my words of solidarity and spiritual support, and I assure you of my prayers, also for your collaborators who suffered in the assault.
Increasingly frequent acts of hatred against believers, including priests, and acts of profanation of sacred objects, places and objects of worship, so important for the Catholics in Poland, arouse my highest concern.
I am saddened to see the escalation of hostile behavior towards believers, including the use of symbolic and physical violence. Although in pluralistic society worldview differences are obvious, they can never be an excuse for this type of inhumane act.
I am asking the perpetrators for repentance, and I am asking all people of goodwill for prayer for the Church and for those who commit similar acts of hatred.
Thank you very much, Venerable Prelate, for your zealous and full of sacrifice ministry, wishing you a quick recovery.
Yours faithfully,
I am sending my pastoral blessing,
Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki
Archbishop Metropolitan of Poznań
President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Vice-President of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE)
Warsaw, 29 July 2019
