(ZENIT News / Washington, D.C., 25.09.2024).- Former President Donald Trump declined to accompany Polish President Andrzej Duda to the Catholic Shrine in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, during the meeting of the two politicians, on the occasion of Duda’s trip to the United States.
The visit of the former American President to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa was planned in the context of Trump’s presidential campaign. The reason for the change in Trump’s agenda was unclear.
On Sunday afternoon, September 22, the United States-Polish Committee for the Commemoration of the Smolensk Disaster unveiled a monument in the Shrine’s cemetery, to commemorate the founding of the Polish Solidarity Movement and its fight for Independence from the Communist regime, which lasted from 1940-1980.
There is a replica in the church of the Black Madonna, the original of which is in the Shrine of the city of Czestochowa. Tradition holds that the original was painted by the Evangelist Saint Luke, and some believe that it was painted on a board made by Jesus Christ when He was a carpenter. The existence and veneration of the icon has been well documented since 1300.
The Shrine in Pennsylvania was built in 1955. Pope Saint John XXIII blessed the copy of the icon of the Black Madonna. Voters in Pennsylvania, where Bucks Country is located, are undecided. In 2020, President Joe Biden won there by less than 4.4% of the vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won he County by 0.3%.
