On Saturday, June 7, the Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński participated in the ingress of Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Metropolitan of Gniezno and the Primate of Poland, to the Gniezno Archcathedral.
The Ingress began with a procession of cardinals, archbishops and bishops to the Archcathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gniezno. In addition to the numerous clergy and lay faithful, the ceremony was attended by representatives of state authorities, representatives of the Diplomatic Corps and delegates from Polish communities.
The participants of the ceremony were welcomed by Archbishop Józef Kowalczyk, the predecessor of Archbishop Polak on the archbishopric and Primate of Gniezno. "From today, dear Primate of Poland, you are entrusted with the responsibility for the patrimony of the ancient Church of Gniezno. With your prayers, your attitude and your deeds, you will take care that the People of God, entrusted to your pastoral ministry, remain faithful to the values resulting from Holy Baptism, received here by the first ruler of the Polish state". - Archbishop Kowalczyk said.
Then, the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, read out the text of the papal bull of appointment and presented the new Primate with a pastoral stole - a sign of pastoral authority, handed down by Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk.
During his homily, Primate spoke about the need to experience the reviving power of the Word of God, in reference to the words of St. John Paul II, who during one of his pilgrimages to Gniezno spoke about the Pentecost. He reminded us that Christians are called to bear witness to other people. He also called on us, following the example of St. Adalbert, to put the love for Christ above the length of our earthly lives - as he himself pointed out, this will be possible if each of us is able to die with our particularistic reasons in order to share love with other people. He also recalled his first association after the announcement of Pope Francis' decision to nominate the Primate of Poland as Archbishop of Gniezno, i.e. opening the doors of the church wide to all people, just as the doors of the Upper Room of Pentecost were open.
source: Archdiocese of Gniezno
Photo by J. Andrzejewski
