Bishop Paul McAleenan, Lead Bishop for Migrants and Refugees for the Bishops’ Conference, has returned from a two-day meeting in Warsaw with the Polish Bishops’ Conference to discuss the on-going pastoral care of Poles in the UK.
Father Bogdan Kołodziej, Rector of the Polish Catholic Mission, attended the meeting alongside the Mission’s Chancellor, Father Artur Strzępka, and the General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, Canon Christopher Thomas.
Bishop Piotr Turzyński, the representative of the Polish Episcopal Conference responsible for the pastoral care of the Polish community outside Poland, was happy to greet the visitors from England and Wales. “Bishop McAleenan is very kind and we can always count on him,” said Bishop Turzyński. “We consult with him on all matters related to the pastoral care of Poles in England and Wales. During this visit we discussed several important issues.”
Speaking to the media office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Bishop McAleenan emphasised the importance of the Polish Catholic Mission, which has been present in the life of the Catholic Church in England and Wales for decades. “Such pastoral care is extremely important because people pray best in their mother tongue – the language of their childhood,” said Bishop McAleenan. “Poles are welcome in our parishes and they enrich our church.”
Bishop McAleenan praised the Polish Catholic communities for their respect for the Blessed Sacrament during Mass and Adoration. “This piety translates into the society in which they function on a daily basis,” he said. “Living among the English and Welsh, they share their values and beliefs – this is extremely valuable.”
The two-day meeting was the latest in a series of on-going meetings that take place alternately in Poland and England to ensure a high level of pastoral concern for Poles living in England and Wales.
“We share the experience of faith in exile and talk about both the needs and the difficulties that we face,” said Father Kołodziej, Rector of the Polish Catholic Mission. “We have a lot of young people in the communities and you can see the hunger for God in them. There are many Poles who have left for various reasons. They are people who practiced their faith here in Poland and want to breathe it where they live. They want to pray in the language of the heart, in their native language, but our parishes need more priests.”
In Lent, the relics of the Blessed Ulma family will visit Polish parishes in England and Wales. The family were martyred by Nazi soldiers for harbouring Jews during World War II.
“We have 74 parishes and we would like the reliquary to visit them all,” said Father Kołodziej. “We would like this visit to renew awareness of the family values and relationships.”
© Polish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
(From left to right) Canon Christopher Thomas, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Bishop Paul McAleenan, Lead Bishop for Migrants and Refugees, Bishop Piotr Turzyński, the Polish Episcopal Conference’s bishop responsible for the pastoral care of the Polish community outside Poland, Father Bogdan Kołodziej, Rector of the Polish Catholic Mission, and Father Artur Strzępka, Chancellor of the Polish Catholic Mission.
