National Day of Remembrance for Steadfast Clergy in Poland Date in the current year: October 19, 2024

The Sejm of the Republic of Poland designated October 19 as National Day of Remembrance for Steadfast Clergy in 2018. Although not a public holiday, it is one of Poland’s official remembrance days. Its date was chosen to commemorate the death anniversary of Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Roman Catholic priest who was murdered by the Security Service during the communist rule in Poland.

Jerzy Popiełuszko was born in 1947 in the village of Okopy. After finishing school, he entered a seminary in Warsaw. Although his studies were temporarily interrupted by mandatory military service, Popiełuszko returned to the seminary after finishing his service in the army in 1968 and was ordained as a priest in 1972. As a young priest, he served in several parishes near and in Warsaw.

In 1981, Popiełuszko got involved with Solidarity, a trade union formed at the Gdańsk Shipyard and led by Lech Wałęsa. Solidarity united people from all over Poland who opposed the communist regime, from members of the anti-Stalinist left movements to people associated with the Catholic Church. Popiełuszko joined the workers participating in strikes for better working conditions in the Ursus Factory in Warsaw.

A staunch opponent of Poland’s communist government, Popiełuszko openly expressed his political views in his sermons, expressing solidarity with workers and trade unionists, and encouraging people to take part in protests.

During the period of martial law in Poland, which lasted from December 1981 to July 1983, Catholic priests were the only ones who had the opportunity to voice political messages relatively openly since strikes and public gatherings were banned and media were censored, but people were still allowed to attend mass. Popiełuszko soon became known all over the country for his uncompromising stance because his sermons were broadcast by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American broadcasting company founded as an anti-communist propaganda outlet.

A little over a year after the lifting of martial law, Popiełuszko was murdered by three members of the Security Service. On October 13, 1984, a car accident was set up to kill him, but Popiełuszko evaded it. Six days later, three Security Service officers kidnapped him after his last Holy Mass in Bydgoszcz. They severely beat the priest, tied him up, and drowned him in a water reservoir near the city of Włocławek.

After the recovery of Popiełuszko’s body on October 30, the news of his murder caused an uproar throughout the country. Popiełuszko’s funeral on November 3 was attended by more than 250,000 people, and his murderers and one of their superiors who had given them the order to kill the priest were tried, convinced, and sentenced to time in prison.

Father Popiełuszko is recognized as a martyr by the Roman Catholic Church; he was beautified in 2010. His death anniversary is now observed as National Day of Remembrance for Steadfast Clergy.