The priest known as the Solidarity chaplain made the ultimate sacrifice for change in Poland, former Polish president Lech Walesa said this week at the screening in Rome of a biopic on Jerzy Popieluszko.
Released in Poland in February and set for release in Italy next month, Popieluszko recounts the life of the charismatic priest who was murdered by the Polish secret service in 1984.
Popieluszko was a staunch anti-communist who laced his sermons with political messages, encouraging protest.
The price paid by Father Popieluszko was very high indeed, Walesa, the co-founder of the Solidarity trade union, told a news conference. But if we consider the sacrifice… if it wasn t for that things would have been different today.
Director Rafak Wieczynski said that when he began work on the film, being shown out of competition at the Rome film festival, Walesa told him that Solidarity was alive because Father Popieluszko gave his life.
Since the pope at the time, John Paul II, was Polish, Father Popieluszko and I felt this was an opportunity for Poland and other countries to make a break with communism, and make progress towards normalcy, Walesa said.
The 1983 Nobel peace prize laureate added: You must bear in mind that Poland s geographical position is such that the nation has not always been able to speak with its own voice.
When the state cannot speak, the (Catholic) Church does. Without the symbiosis with the Church, Poland would have been wiped off the face of the earth, said Walesa, 66, who was president of Poland from 1990-1995.
Winning the Nobel peace prize also made a difference, Walesa said. You can ignore a trade union leader, but it is harder to ignore a Nobel laureate… The recognition almost compelled us to continue our work and bring it to fruition.
Asked his opinion on the awarding of the prize to US President Barack Obama this year, Walesa said: I, like many others, was a bit surprised, because it was almost a down payment, as it were, an encouragement… He will probably live up to expectations, but it is a bit of a gamble. -AFP
