Poland May 2024
In October 2023 don Kristophoro, pastor of Zabkowice Slaskie, invited Fra Elia for the fourth time to his parish, when he got the go-ahead from his Bishop, invitations from two other parishes in the same Diocese of Swidnica, a city of over sixty thousand inhabitants in southwestern Poland, were added.
On the morning of May 14, Fra Elia and I left for Wroclaw, a city known in Italy by its German name of Wroclaw, to welcome us we found don Pietro Duda, secretary of the Catholic University of the same city, who accompanied us throughout our stay in Poland, even acting as translator, both in official moments of the mission and in private moments, when, especially during meals, diners on duty ask questions to Fra Elia, who gladly answers the occasional interlocutor. Our first destination is the parish of St. Adalbert in Walbrzich, a town of about cen- tove thousand inhabitants in Lower Silesia, a region that until 1945 belonged to Germany, where we meet a priest we already knew in 2019, when he was pastor of Nowa Ruda, a town in the same diocese. His name is also don Kristophoro, but he is much younger than the priest friend who first invited us; he was transferred about a year and a half ago to this new parish to heal a problematic pastoral situation. He welcomes us to the rectory, where we find lunch prepared for us, still fasting from this morning, and a chance for some relaxation before going to church for the rosary and Holy Mass. Fra Elia presence drew many people, so much so that the parish priest was amazed by such a large influx that has never occurred, even on the great solemn feasts of Christmas and Easter. After three hours of prayer, which began with the rosary, Holy Mass and Fra Elia catechesis, we leave the church tired, but happy to have proclaimed and served the Lord Jesus (cf. Acts 5:41).
During the night we reach the parish of St. Anna in Zabkowice Slaskie, where we are hosted. On Wednesday morning we finally meet don Kristophoro, who has just returned from preaching in the city of Wroclaw, and after breakfast we pay a visit to the church, where major restoration work is under way for the many works of art it holds. This is followed by a walk through the streets and squares of the beautiful town while waiting for lunchtime, when we will be joined by old and new friends, eager to meet Fra Elia and talk with him. After a meeting in the rectory with a group of sick people in the early afternoon, we go to the church at the appointed time for the prayer meeting, which is very crowded and attended by both priests and faithful.
The last stop of the mission is Rozanka, a small village of three hundred inhabitants in the forest, a few kilometers from the border with the Czech Republic, with a beautiful church, full of paintings and works of art. Considering the location particularly pleasant because of the landscape in which it is set, the young pastor is preparing to turn the rectory into a welcome center for prayer experiences and spirituality.
The small church cannot contain the large crowd that came, and many adapt to follow the celebration from outside. Today in Poland we commemorate St. Andrew Bobola, a Jesuit priest martyr who lived in the first half of the 17th century and was killed by the Cossacks for his attempt to bring back to communion with Rome the Orthodox communities present in Polish territory. We thank the Lord for this new opportunity for evangelization, a mission where we met many friends old and new, who through the charism of Fra Elia were confirmed in the faith. Beyond what is seen, there is also the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit, who, as Jesus says in the Gospel, like the wind, “blows where it wills and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes” (Jn. 3:8).
