Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a Plolish Catholic Priest was murdered by three agents of the Polish Communist Intelligence Agency, on October 18, 1984. He was declared a martyr and was beatified, on June 6, 2010. He was murdered because of his strong identification with the Solidarity movement in Poland, and because he spoke out publicly against the tyranny of the Communist regime ruling his country. He was no shrinking violet trying to go along to get along with evil.
George Weigel in a post today at First Things, tells of a contemporary Via Crucis in which figures from modern Polish Catholic history are “inserted” into the traditional Stations of the Cross. The bronzes themselves are well-done, but what is particularly striking about the Pasierbiec Via Crucis is the idea that animates these sculptures—the idea that we can, and should, imagine ourselves living inside the biblical story.
At the sixth station there in the village of Pasierbiecin, Krakow, ...Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, the martyr-priest of Solidarity, relieves Jesus of some of the weight of the Cross while Veronica wipes the Holy Face; the message Father Jerzy preached during martial law in Poland...is inscribed on the cross.
Here's the quote:
“Overcome evil with good”
