CHURCH MUST BE A BUILDER OF BRIDGES AND THOSE WHO BRING PEACE!
The Holy Mass in the cathedral in Glliwice was the main point of the prayer of bishops from Poland and Germany on the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War. On 31 August the Eucharist was celebrated by the Chair of the Polish Episcopal Conference archbishop Stanisław Gądecki and the Chair of the German Episcopal cardinal Reinhard Marx.
– Church or Churches cannot be the opposition among nations. They cannot be a tool of selection. The Church must be a builder of bridges of conciliation and those who bring peace. Our experiences connected with war, terrorism and violence in Iraq, Syria and in Ukraine oblige us, as Christians, to bring the testimony of peace, fight for dignity of everybody without any exceptions – emphasized cardinal Marx.
After the Holy Mass participants of the ceremony went to the building of the former radio station in order to continue prayers. It was there where on 31 August 1939 in German Gliwice at that time, a few armed SS-men did provocations, presenting the Third Reich as a victim of Polish aggression.
The Polish-German prayer, presided over by cardinal Reinhard Marx and cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, also took place on 1 September in Warsaw, at the grave of blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko.
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„Niedziela” 36/2014