Polish Jesuit Unhappy With Polish Cardinal

Krzysztof Madal, an influential Jesuit priest, slammed plans to include the ampoule in the altar of a new church saying it was returning the "Catholic Church to the medieval practices of the past". "In medieval days people didn't read and write, and knew little about the world so the Church needed stimuli," he added. "But times have changed and using blood as a relic is not a good idea." The blood was taken by doctors at the Gemelli Clinic in Rome during a tracheotomy operation, carried out shortly before the pope's death. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul's former secretary, would like to incorporate the blood into an altar in a new church at Lagiewniki, the town near Krakow that will house a planned John Paul II Centre, dedicated to the work and memory of the late pope. "He would like it placed in a special crystal in the altar so it is clearly visible to the faithful," said Father Jan Kabzinski, who is working on the centre.
Link (here)

NAZI Monster And War Criminal Rudolf Hoess, His Jesuit Confessor And The Divine Mercy

Soon after his appointment, Archbishop Wojtyla approached Jesuit theologian Ignatius Rozycki and asked him to review Sister Faustina's writings. Initially skeptical, Fr. Rozycki spent ten years in an exhaustive study of the Sister and her notebooks, which the Vatican had condemned in 1958. Father Rozycki's findings were published and the prohibition lifted in 1978. Beatified in 1992, St. Faustina was canonized in the year 2000; on the latter occasion Pope John Paul II declared the first Sunday after Easter "Divine Mercy Sunday."

A few weeks ago I came upon a thought-provoking homily by Father Matthew Kelty, O.C.S.O., which was given on Divine Mercy Sunday, 2006. It seems that during the former Commandant's solitary confinement in Krakow, where he awaited execution for his war crimes, Rudolph Hoess heard the bells of the local Carmel and was reminded of the Faith he had observed as a child but had long since rejected. He called for a German-speaking priest.

The local Jesuit provincial, Fr. Ladislav Lohn, S.J., went to the convent of Sister Faustina and asked the Sisters to pray earnestly while he went to hear the prisoner's confession. In the end Hoess was reconciled with the Church and received Holy Communion. Later Hoess wrote his wife and five children, expressed sorrow for his crimes, and begged forgiveness of the people of Poland. Hoess was executed April 16, 1947.

In his homily, Father Kelty contends that, though he may rightly spend an eternity in Purgatory, by the mercy of God even a man like Rudolph Hoess could be saved. This is an uncomfortable truth for some, even offensive to those whose sense of justice could be satisfied with nothing less than eternal damnation for such a "monster."

Link (here)

A Really Cool Polish Jesuit Website 

Take A Look > (here)

Polish Jesuit On The Problem

Fr. Josef Augustyn, S.J.

Fr. Józef Augustyn, a Jesuit who for years has been willing and able to publicly discuss some of the most burning questions regarding the sexual conduct of the laity and the clergy. According to the Jesuit, the problem of homosexuality in the clergy does indeed exist, but Fr. Tadeausz Isakowicz Zaleski has exposed it “in an ambiguous and superficial way.” The crux of the issue, he says, is not the phenomenon itself “which we have little power to influence, but our attitude towards it.” The theory put forward in the book about the existence of “a powerful sexual conspiracy within the Church,” does not hold water in the face of questions that spontaneously spring up. The author bases his theory on Polish secret police documents but the Polish Jesuit asks himself whether this is a reliable source. The more serious the accusations, the stronger the evidence needs to be, Fr. Augustyn added, saying that he could not find any such evidence in the book. All it presents are insinuations and fallacies. Not to mention the “dangerous generalisations”, for example, the section on the Vatican. The truth which Isakowicz Zaleski seems so fond of is not only to be found in information: it should also lie in the reasons that pushed someone to supply this “news”, the Jesuit concludes in the interview with Polish Catholic news agency KAI.

Link (here) to Vatican Insider for the full story.

What is the problem Fr. Jozef Augustyn is talking about? Go (here) and (here)

Polish Jesuit Chaplain Fr Stanislaw Skudrzyk Divine Mercy Priest

The Jesuits have about 15 priest assigned to the Divine Mercy Shrine just outside of Krakow, Poland were they minister to the million plus Pilgrims every year.

The Lord Jesus chose Sr. Faustina as the Apostle and "Secretary" of His Mercy, so that she could tell the world about this great message: In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart (Diary 1588) - the Lord Jesus told Sr. Faustina. (Dz. 1588). The Divine Mercy apostolate has been flourishing, not only in Poland, but throughout Europe, Asia and other parts of the world, including Australia where it was brought by migrants from Poland in 1950 and was actively promoted by the Polish Jesuit Chaplain Fr Stanislaw Skudrzyk. He arranged the transport of the first picture of Jesus Divine Mercy to Melbourne which was solemnly blessed by Archbishop Mannix on the Sunday of Divine Mercy, 20 April 1952, and given a place of honour in St Ignatius Church in Richmond, until 1959.

Read the original article (here)

Garabandal's "Dark Side"

Four girls from the small town of Garabandal, near Santander, had repeated visions of both the Virgin and St. Michael and were given prophecies to disclose to the rest of the faithful. On June 18, 1961, while picking apples at a local orchard, the girls heard a "thunderclap" and saw a beautiful figure enveloped in light which they thought was an angel sent to punish them for stealing fruit. Over the course of the following twelve days, the girls would have visions of the same angel, dressed in blue and with pinkish wings, whom they took to be St. Michael the Archangel. The angel told them that they would soon be seeing the Virgin, and they did so after the eight visitation. The Blessed Mother appeared in garb that would be immediately recognizable to any school-age child in a Catholic country: a white dress with a blue mantle, a starry crown, and a scapular at her waist. The heavenly patroness told the girls to inform their elders that sacrifice and penance were in order to avert imminent punishment. 

The thousands gathered in Garabandal to see the miracle were hoping for something more substantial, however, and in the wee hours of October 19, 1961 those present saw the famous miracle of the communion wafers manifesting itself on Conchita's opened mouth (and of which photographs have been reproduced in countless journals and religious tracts). 

Garabandal's "dark side" -- if it can indeed be said to have one -- came about a few months earlier when theologian Luis Andreu lost his life in a car crash. Andreu had seen the four girls in their ecstatic trances and had been forced to proclaim aloud the miraculous nature of what he was seeing. When asked exactly what the miracle was, he told his friends that he was overwhelmed with joy at what the Virgin had shown him and that it was the happiest day in his life. Shortly after, he fell silent, much to the concern of those around him. The priest had died. When news of Father Andreu's death reached the young visionaries, they claimed that they had seen the Virgin looking at him at one point, as though saying: "you shall soon be with me". The death of this respected religious caused the bishopric of Santander to forbid members of the clergy from visiting Garabandal without permission from Church authorities. Worshippers were advised that they too must cease their visits, and the tide of pilgrims to the mountain village was stemmed for a while. But there was another death in the works... In 1965, Monsignor Vincente Puchol assumed the bishop's crook at Santander and was even more stringent in his prohibitions against any veneration of Garabandal, issuing a terse pronouncement: 

"there has never been any apparition of the Blessed Virgin, nor of the Archangel Michael, nor of any other heavenly personage. There has been no message, and all of the events which have transpired at said location have a natural explanation." It was this rejection of the miracle of Garabandal that many believed cost the bishop his life: he died while driving his car, allegedly screaming "God, what's wrong with me?!" before the collision. 

The car crash occurred on the same day as the feast of St. Michael the Archangel. Another (here) Jesuit father, Jozef Warzawski, wrote a comprehensive study on the phenomenon entitled El Mito de Garabandal (Madrid: Ed. Studium) accepting the reality of the events which occurred at the site but ascribing them all to demonic forces.

Link (here) to Conspiracy Journal 617

St. Andrew Bobola, S.J.

It was during the reign of Casimir V. that the Society of Jesus in Poland gave a glorious martyr to the Church. Saint Andrew Bobola was born in 1590, of an illustrious family; in 1611 he entered the Society of Jesus; and some years later, when the plague broke out in the town of Vilna, he devoted himself to the care of the sufferers with a heroism that excited universal admiration, and well-nigh cost him his life. He was subsequently appointed to the Jesuits' residence at Bobrinsk, on the Berezina. The province of Lithuania was at this period torn by religious warfare; the clergy and bishops remained firmly attached to the orthodox faith, but a portion of the population had fallen into schism, and it needed all the apostolic zeal of their pastors to recall them to the true faith. 

Among these devoted missionaries Father Bobola was foremost, and, as an instance of the wonderful success that crowned his efforts, we are told that he converted the whole city of Janow, where, when he began to preach, there were but two Catholics. In 1657, while preaching in the neighborhood of the town, he was surprised by a band of rebel Cossacks, whose ravages at that period created general consternation throughout the kingdom. 

He was seized by them and carried to a neighboring wood, where, upon his refusal to deny his faith, the barbarians cruelly scourged him. They then dragged him to Janow between two horses, put out his eyes, burnt his sides with lighted torches, tore off the skin of his back, while the martyr continued to repeat: 'Jesus, Mary, assist me; enlighten and convert these blind men ; Lord, Thy will be done.' At last his tongue was torn out, and soon afterwards his blessed soul went to receive his reward, on the eve of the Ascension, 1657.

Link (here) to read the original story along with other exciting tales of Jesuit heroism contained in the book The Jesuits.

Fr. Joseph Andrasz, S.J.: Spiritual Director To St. Faustina Of The Divine Mercy

Fr. Joseph Andrasz, S.J.

St. Faustina had great difficulty finding confessors and spiritual directors who understood what God was doing in her life. She finally found two good ones in Fr. Joseph Andrasz, S.J., and in Fr. Michael Sopocko. Link (here)

She writes of a Mass celebrated by her spiritual director, Fr. Joseph Andrasz, SJ: "...

I saw the Infant Jesus who, with hands outstretched toward us, was sitting in the chalice being used at Holy Mass. After gazing at me penetratingly, He spoke these words: 'As you see Me in this chalice, so I dwell in your heart'"

(Diary, 1346). The little Jesus is instructing St. Faustina that, through His Eucharistic Presence, He dwells in her heart as the source of her strength. Even as the Infant Jesus strengthened her in the Eucharist, His abiding presence also filled her heart with great joy. Her desire grew for Him alone as the greatest treasure of all. She writes of February 2, 1936,

"... when Mass began, a strange silence and joy filled my heart. Just then, I saw Our Lady with the Infant Jesus ... . The most holy Mother said to me, 'Take my Dearest Treasure,' and she handed me the Infant Jesus. When I took the Infant Jesus in my arms, the Mother of God and Saint Joseph disappeared. I was left alone with the Infant Jesus"

( Diary, 608).. Link (here)

Jesuit Theologian Influential In The Spead Of Jesus' Divine Mercy Devotion

Had it not been for the Holy Father's efforts on her behalf, Faustina and her notebooks may well have disappeared into obscurity. Initially branded "hysterical" and "deceived" by local clergy, in 1938 she died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-three. However, God had not finished the work He had begun with Sister Faustina, nor did the men who had silenced her foil His plans.

Soon after his appointment, Archbishop Wojtyla approached Jesuit theologian Ignatius Rozycki and asked him to review Sister Faustina's writings. Initially skeptical, Fr. Rozycki spent ten years in an exhaustive study of the Sister and her notebooks, which the Vatican had condemned in 1958. Father Rozycki's findings were published and the prohibition lifted in 1978.

Beatified in 1992, St. Faustina was canonized in the year 2000; on the latter occasion Pope John Paul II declared the first Sunday after Easter "Divine Mercy Sunday."

Link (here)

Polish Jesuit Fr Stanislaw Skudrzyk And The Divine Mercy

The Divine Mercy apostolate has been flourishing, not only in Poland, but throughout Europe, Asia and other parts of the world, including Australia where it was brought by migrants from Poland in 1950 and was actively promoted by the Polish Jesuit Chaplain Fr Stanislaw Skudrzyk. He arranged the transport of the first picture of Jesus Divine Mercy to Melbourne which was solemnly blessed by Archbishop Mannix on the Sunday of Divine Mercy, 20 April 1952, and given a place of honour in St Ignatius Church in Richmond, until 1959.

Link (here)

Polish Jesuit: Fr. Michał Piotr Boym, S.J.

The Jesuit missionaries who operated in China between the late 16th and early 17th century were a an outstanding group, but even against this background the story of Michael (Michał) Boym (ca. 1612–1659) is remarkable. Born in Lwów (a.k.a Lemberg, Lvov, Lviv), he left his native Poland to join the Jesuits, and was posted to China. He happened to arrive to China right around the time of the Manchu invasion and the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Fifty years earlier, the Wanli Emperor never deigned to meet Matteo Ricci and Diego Pantoya in person (and when given the portrait of the priests, exclaimed "Ah, they are Hui-Hui!"). Now, when Beijing and Nanjing both fell to  the Manchus, Koffler (another Jesuit, an Austrian) and Boym were able to enter the inner circle of the court of the Yongli Emperor (a grandson of Wanli), who was still resisting the Manchus from the empire's southwestern corner, and to baptize several members of the royal family. As the Ming's situation became increasingly precarious, Empress Elena sent Boym to Europe with a plea for help from the Pope. The Portuguese (who controlled Jesuit's operations in China and elsewhere in Asia) and the Jesuit leadership, however, were not all that enthusiastic about supporting the Ming's nearly-lost cause, so getting to Europe became yet another adventure for Boym and his traveling companion, a Chinese Christian named Andrew Zheng.

Engaged as he was with politics and the missionary business, Boym managed to write a few important books and articles, only some of which were published at the time. One of the best known is his delightful Flora Sinensis (1656). The album actually covered both flora and fauna, and not only of China. One of the most interesting pictures there was the one showing two creatures: Sum Xu (松鼠) and Lo Meo Quey (绿毛龟).

松鼠 is transcribed songshu in modern Chinese transcription (Hanyu Pinyin), and is the usual Chinese word for "squirrel". (The literal meaning is "pine rat".) ''Sum Xu'' would be the normal way to transcribe this in the Portuguese-influenced transcription that Boym used; elsewhere, for example, he has the Shandong province as Xantum. While Boym's picture of the creature is reasonably squirrel-like, his description of the creature's lifestyle is, however, decidedly non-squirrel-ly. According to Boym, the ''sumxu'' was a pretty yellow-and-black animal, commonly tamed, and made to wear silver a collar. Valued as good hunters of mice, they would sell for 7 to 9 silver coins. Based on this, it has been suggested (e.g., by Hartmut Walravens) that he was actually describing some animal from the mustelid family (including martens, ferrets, weasels, etc.) that may have been domesticated in China.

December 14th, 1942

News account of the death of Superior General Ledochowski, S.J. notice the anti-Semitic and anti-Jesuit characterization in the first sentence (here)  in The Lewiston Daily Sun

Father Stefan Filipowicz, a Jesuit priest from Chicago, came to celebrate a Polish Mass on Christmas and Easter in Atlanta. Link (here)

The Centre Of Dialogue And Prayer

Auschwitz

"My great-grandmother was killed in Auschwitz. And when I did go there for research in 2007, I visited the Centre of Dialogue and Prayer," which offers seminars and workshops on the Holocaust, and is "run by a Jesuit priest." 

Link (here) to the full article at The Jewish Exponent 

The first Jesuits put to death in the 20th century were the Frenchmen Modestus Andlauer, Remigius Isoré, Paulus Denn, and Leo Ignatius Mangin. They died in China between 1900 and 1901 in the so-called "Boxer Revolution." All of them were beatified in 1955. In the year 1915-1916, two Armenians died during an attack on members of their race mounted by the regime of young Turks.
Religious persecution claimed its most celebrated Jesuit victim in the Mexican Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, executed by a firing squad in 1927. In the following decades, between 1932 and 1946, we are certain that between eleven and fifteen Jesuits were killed by the Chinese communist regime. In Spain, persecution took on tragic dimensions: 122 Jesuits died. Fifty-two of them are in process of beatification. When one remembers that the Society of Jesus was expelled from Spanish territory in 1932, one understands why there were not many more victims.

The Nazi regime murdered 82 Jesuits: Poles (79), Germans, Austrians, Czechs, Slavs, Slovenians, Frenchmen and Dutchmen. Many of them died in Dachau or Auschwitz. The Nazis' Japanese allies killed another 23: three Canadians in China, three Dutchmen in Indonesia, seven Spaniards in Micronesia.

After the Second World War, the communist regimes of China, the Soviet Union, and its allies behind the Iron Curtain killed many priests and religious without leaving any trace. We can be certain that 44 Jesuits were killed, some in terribly cruel ways: thirteen in China, ten in Poland, five in Albania, seven in Yugoslavia.
Link (here) to the Jesuit Portal

An Intersection Of Jesus, The Apostles, The Jesuits, Poland And Man

The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (Kosciól Świętych Apostołów Piotra i Pawła) in Kraków is a Baroque Jesuit church known best for the statues of the 12 disciples lining the fence at the front. It is the oldest Baroque building in Krakow. Construction was begun in 1597 by Jozef Britius for the Jesuit Order, and completed by Giovanni Trevano. It is one of the most faithful examples of transplanting the architecture of the famous Gesu Church in Rome to foreign soil, with a fine Baroque facade and great dome. It is said that the Jesuits spent so much money on the ornate white facade and the sculptures that they ran out of money to finish the rest of the building. Indeed, behind the impressive Baroque facade is a church made from ordinary brick. The stone statues of the 12 Apostles on the fence, looming larger-than-life-size, are replicas of the 18th-century late Baroque originals. The latter can be seen in the side yard. The interior is not as impressive as the exterior, but worth a look. The crypt contains the sarcophagus of Father Peter Skarga, S.J., a famous 17th-century Jesuit preacher.

Link (here) to read the blog post by Wojtek, his post is entitled Apostołowie zimową porą

Of Piotr Skarga, S.J.

There is what I can only describe as a “thing” on St. Mary Magdalene Square. 

No matter how hard I look at it I can’t decide if it’s a kids’ climbing frame or a devastatingly insightful comment on kids’ climbing frames. 

The already alarming statue of the arch Jesuit Piotr Skarga glowers down at the “thing” from his perch and looks ready to pounce on the toddlers who have concluded that it is, in fact, a kids’ climbing frame.

Link (here) to the full article in the Poland's Krakow Post.

Peter Skarga, S.J., "The Polish Chysostom"

Any attempt to give a full list of Polish authors would swell these pages far beyond orthodox limits. Sebastian Fabian Klonowicz, called the Sarmatian Ovid (born 1551, died 1608), was greatly admired by his countrymen, and is still esteemed a classic. Rhetoric and pulpit-eloquence, as may easily be imagined, were greatly fostered by the Jesuits. Among the most successful cultivators of these forms of literature was Peter Skarga, the Court preacher of Sigismund III., who earned the appellation of the Polish Chrysostom. Skarga has left a host of sermons and religious works behind him, among which may be mentioned " Lives of the Saints," " Discourses for Sundays and Saints' Days," " Discourses on the Seven Sacraments,". For a glowing eulogy of him, see the Lectures of Adam Mickiewicz. He expressly praises his sermons preached before the " Diet," in which he appears as a true patriot. On account of his freedom of speech, he is said to have been many times in danger of his life.

Link (here) to read the portion from the book entitled the Westminster Review.

Sigismund III "King Of The Jesuits"

The election of Sigismund III to the throne proved to be the greatest blow it was possible to inflict upon Protestanism in Poland. Brought up by his mother, Catherine Jagiellon, in the strictest Roman Catholic doctrines, he made the promotion of the interests of Rome the guiding motive of all his actions. This zeal for Rome outweighed all considerations of prudence or policy; through it ' he lost two hereditary thrones, and brought innumerable calamities on the country which election had handed over to him , "In order to make sure of heaven," said the Emperor Ferdinand, "he has renounced earth." The Protestants called him the "King of the Jesuits," and Sigismund gloried in the appellation. This feeble imitation of Philip II of Spain possessed all the bigotry and zeal of his model without his abilities or strength of character. In all that he did he was ruled by the Jesuits; he bestowed honours only on those whom they favoured, and preferred their advice to that of his wisest counsellors. 'By private interviews, wrote a Roman Catholic historian who was also bishop of Przemysl, 'which they could always command, the Jesuits so bound the king by their solicitations, that he did everything according to their counsel, and the hopes and cares of courtiers had no weight except by their favour.Chief among these advisers of the king was Peter Skarga, one of the most eminent of Polish Jesuits. Born in Masovia in 1536, he was educated at the University of Cracow. where he distinguished himself by winning the "prima Laurea." He then proceeded to Rome, where he entered the society in 1568. He began his preaching at Pultusk, and visited the colleges which Stephen had founded at Riga, Dorpat and Polock; his eloquence was very successful, and even now his sermons are thought highly of in Poland. On the accession of Sigismund he became royal chaplain : he founded a confraternity of St. Lazarus at Warsaw, and many other establishments elsewhere.

Link (here) to full engaging account of the "King of the Jesuits"

The NAZI's Entered The Jesuit Chapel During The Warsaw Uprising

"Do you mind me asking why you were imprisoned?"

"You see I was put to work to repair the highways and I ran away and, coming to Warsaw I bought some goods from the farmers. As bad luck would have it, a Gestapo control caught me with the goods in the train. They took the goods away and put me in gaol," he finished.

I left him in the attic. The yard was silent. The guards were speaking quietly near the gate. We were relieved at six in the morning. I went to sleep but somehow I could never get enough sleep. At nine Marushka woke me, explaining that the Germans were shooting at the house next to ours and that our people were already in the basement. Explosions of hand grenades and shooting from machine guns were very close, coming from Akacia Street.

We went down to the basement. Here we heard the latest news the Germans had broken into the Jesuit chapel that was about 200 steps away from us. What was happening there nobody knew.

Maybe shots had been fired from that house and the Germans retaliated? After half an hour the shooting stopped. After leaving the basement we saw fires and smoke. Rushing up to the top floor we saw that the chapel was burning. Smoke was pouring through the windows covering the wall with soot and we could hear the glass breaking. In a very short while the whole chapel was on fire, cleaning the traces of the recent tragedy. We all worried about the fate that had befallen our nearest neighbours.

Link (here)

152 Jesuit Victims of the Nazis (here)

Photo of Polish volunteers of the "Warsaw Uprising". Link (here) with many more photos.

Link (here) to a slideshow tribute to the Poles of the Warsaw Uprising

Polish Jesuit And The Divine Mercy In Africa

In 1989 whilst promoting the message of Divine Mercy Val Conlon met Polish Jesuit Fr. Jacub Rostworowski in Dublin, who was on his way to Zambia to serve as a missionary. Fr. Jacub was influenced to become a priest after seeing his father who was a professional artist paint the Image of Divine Mercy in his studio in Cracow. After his ordination Fr. Jacub was appointed Chaplain first at the Hospital in Rabka. This is the hospital where Saint Faustina had convalessed during her final bout of illness, and then he became Chaplin at the convent where she died. Fr. Jacub invited Val to visit all the places associated with Saint Faustina in Cracow before his departure for the missions. Since then they have been friends and when Fr. Jacub started working with poor children and orphans in Zambia H.U.D.T started to help him with his work.

Children in Zambia with The Divine Mercy Image

With your generosity, we will continue our Works of Mercy in Zambia where Fr. Jacub is bringing Divine Mercy in real terms to his parishioners. There are many ongoing projects, we are helping him build a school, a Divine Mercy Church, and a Shrine. Link (here)

School being built in Zambia by H.U.D.T Fr. Jacub is helped by H.U.D.T Marian Shrine built by Fr. Jacub and H.U.D.T in Zambia Divine Mercy Devotees in Zambia Letter from Fr.Jacub to Val Conlon thanking him for all the help he has received from H.U.D.T in helping his community in Zambia.