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World's biggest statue of Christ symbolises church's power in Poland

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World's biggest statue of Christ symbolises church's power in Poland

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World's biggest statue of Christ symbolises church's power in Poland

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Secularisation seems to be a long way off in a country where 90% claim to be Catholics

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A man praying at a chapel in Krakow, Poland, before the blood-stained robes worn by Pope John Paul II when he was nearly killed by an assassin in 1981. Credit Credit Maciek Nabrdalik for The New York Times

WADOWICE, Poland - On his knees, head bowed before bloodstained robes, a Polish man was deep in prayer.

He was worshiping in a chapel at the John Paul II Center in Krakow, a sprawling complex where relics of the former pontiff are displayed, including the clothes he was wearing when nearly killed by an assassin's bullet in 1981.

An engineer, the man said he preferred to keep his prayers private and asked that only his first name, Wojciech, be used. But he was excited to talk about his beloved pope.

"Whenever I have a problem in my life, I come here to pray," Wojciech said.

In a nation increasingly divided, one figure can still inspire solidarity among Poles: The man born Karol Jozef Wojtyla, who, in 1978, became John Paul II, the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years.

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The nation's favorite son, he still looms large in Polish life more than 40 years after he was named Bishop of Rome.

From a towering 45-foot-tall statue depicting the pope with outstretched hands that overlooks the city of Czestochowa, to the relics distributed to churches throughout the country - including drops of his blood in more than 100 parishes - Poland is awash in tributes to the man commonly referred to as "Our Pope."

But at a moment when the country finds itself torn by political conflicts that are cast by all sides as an existential battle for the nation's soul, the legacy of John Paul II - a champion for both Poland and an integrated Europe - is the subject of dispute.

"For everyone, he remains a positive point of reference," said Michal Luczewski, the program director for the Center on the Thought of John Paul II in Warsaw. "But there is a struggle over his legacy, with each side wanting to claim him as their own."

For those on the political right, the pope is an inspiration in their battle against an increasingly secular Europe, Mr. Luczewski said.

Conservative voters, including many supporters of the governing Law and Justice party, believe they are carrying on the pope's mission, particularly the fight against abortion - an issue that continues to be deeply divisive in this country with the most restrictive reproductive laws in Europe.

But on the other side, Poles who believe the Law and Justice party is doing great damage to the nation's democratic institutions - including undermining the judiciary system and controlling the state news media - find forceful rebukes to the creeping authoritarianism in the life and teachings of John Paul II.

"The newest members of the democratic family, John Paul II hoped, ought to be a reminder to the older members of the family that freedom and truth, freedom and virtue, cannot be separated without doing serious damage to the democratic project," George Weigel, the author of " Witness to Hope," a biography of John Paul II, said in a recent speech in Warsaw.

"I cannot imagine that John Paul II would be entirely happy with the condition of the world's democracies, both old and new, today," Mr. Weigel added.

In the Poland of 2019, even the pope's childhood can have a contested meaning: While it was suffused in Polish patriotism, it occurred in a place of pluralism.

In a story familiar to every Pole, the pope came into the world just as Poland's status as a newly free nation was in dire jeopardy, with the Russian Red Army advancing across the country during the summer of 1920.

It was only saved, against all odds, by Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, who mounted a brilliant defense of Warsaw referred to as "The Miracle on the Vistula."

"I believe Karol was given the name Jozef in a tribute to Pilsudski," said the Rev. Jacek Pietruszka, the director of the Holy Father John Paul II Family Home in the ancient town of Wadowice, where the future pope was born in a modest apartment. His birthplace is now visited by some 250,000 people annually, nearly 80 percent of them Polish.

The tour of his childhood home begins in a room dedicated to the history of the town and of its Jewish community, which then made up nearly 20 percent of the population.

"Fundamental to the Polish spirit," the pope wrote in " Memory and Identity," his final book, which published in 2005, the year of he died, "is multiplicity and pluralism, not limitation and closure." He remembered "a Republic embracing many nations, many cultures, many religions."

Visitors can look out of the future pope's bedroom window at the clock on the wall of the local church, with it's famous inscription: "Time flies, eternity awaits." It is a short walk to his former school, the hallways still lined with pictures of his papal visits. All across town, shops sell the puff pastries so beloved by the pope they are now known as Papieska Kremowka, or "Papal" cream cake.

As uneventful as was his youth in Wadowice, his young adulthood was transformed by the cataclysm of World War II. Poland's loss during the war is hard to fathom, with six million killed, including three million Jews.

John Paul, who moved to Krakow in 1938 to study acting, spent the majority of the war there as a laborer while he attended a seminary school in secret. He was ordained a priest in 1946 and named archbishop of Krakow in 1964.

In the postwar Communist years, party apparatchiks in Poland tried to control the church, and the pope's opposition to Communism would be one signature of his papacy.

When John Paul first returned to Poland as pope in 1979, one million people turned out in Warsaw's Victory Square to hear his call for solidarity.

"Be not afraid," he told the crowds.

Months later, a labor movement in a shipyard in Gdansk planted the seeds for a nonviolent revolution that would lead to the end of Communist rule one decade later.

But in the years that followed, John Paul lamented the growing secularism in Western Europe and feared what would come from democracies unmoored from a moral foundation.

The Rev. Jakub Gil, a former student of the pope, said many in conservative circles in Poland share John Paul's concerns, and feel as if their faith is under siege from outside forces.

"The threat comes from the West, and it is one that ridicules Polish identity," said Father Gil, standing outside the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wadowice, where John Paul was baptized.

The idea of "tolerance" espoused by leaders in Brussels, he said, castigates those who speak out against homosexuality or abortion as narrow-minded.

"They treat Poles like children," he said.

But in a Europe where nationalist forces are pushing back against Brussels and threatening to splinter the bloc, the pope can impart "important lessons about patriotism for today," Mr. Weigel, the pope's biographer, said in his speech in Warsaw.

The pope's patriotism, Mr. Weigel said, "was not chauvinistic or xenophobic. It was not closed in on itself, but open to those who were 'other,' "

"Poland, sometimes betrayed and too often ignored by the West, was," he insisted, "woven into the tapestry of Europe."

Beata Borowka, who was tending flowers outside St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Warsaw, said the pope was saddened even in his lifetime to witness the fading of the solidarity that had helped the country win its freedom.

"Poland today is once again divided," she said. "It seems that history teaches us that history teaches us nothing."

Joanna Berendt contributed reporting.

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In a Divided Poland, Pope John Paul II Is Claimed by All Sides

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WADOWICE, Poland - On his knees, head bowed before bloodstained robes, a Polish man was deep in prayer. He was worshiping in a chapel at the John Paul II Center in Krakow, a sprawling complex where relics of the former pontiff are displayed, including the clothes he was wearing when nearly killed by an assassin's bullet in 1981.

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If you want to play an instrument, you can consider choosing a cart rattle. All you have to do is scroll it. This instrument is actually a small cart, so rolling it is very easy. As the wheels of the cart turn, the gears that are attached to them will grab the special sounds and make them hum.Cart rattles are usually used by carols or as a substitute for church bells during Holy Week.

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In Old Poland, this stringed instrument made artists proud of their profession, even though they came from the lowest social class. The contemporary Polish folk band Warsaw Country Band used this instrument to make some great music.

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Ligawka is one of the oldest instruments in Poland and was used by herders to call cattle. In addition, this tradition is still being used in some areas.

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"Poland Is Not Yet Lost" is the national anthem of Poland, and it's also the intangible heritage of Poland. Made by Joseph Wibitsky in 1797.

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National Anthem of Poland-Mazurek Dąbrowskiego (Official Instrumental version)

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In Poland, Christmas is a magical time. During the time of Christmas, animals are said to speak and forgiveness is offered to those who offended. “Wigilia” known as the Christmas Eve feast, is shared by the family.

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November 1, by the tradition of decorating cemeteries with thousands of glowing candles. On this night, the dead comes closer with the world living. Poles honor their deceased family and friend with bright candles graveyards all over Poland.

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In Poland, Easter is a really important festival, because this is the day that resurrection of Jesus. The Easter traditions are blessed food, eggs, church services, decorated, Easter palms and seasonal market bring the meaning for this festival.

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The drowning of Marzanna is a tradition about farewell-to-winter on Death Sunday before Easter. The effigy of Marzanna will take to the riverbank and throw into the water, and watch her “drown.” the meaning of the festival is forget the ills of winter and spring return warm and natural bounty.

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The new year eve party is celebrating the new year comes, most of the Europe country will participate in host parties, attend private events, the city square fireworks extravaganzas. January 1 is a day for the concert in auditoriums and carols sung in churches throughout Poland.

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(HD) Narrated Tour of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau

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5 Key Conversation Taboos

Politics is not a gossip topic, don't talk with them, unless the bring it first.

Emphasizing or boasting about wealth and money

Don't put the hands in the pockets when you are speaking

Religion is not a gossip topic, don't talk with them, unless the bring it first.

Don’t sit with one ankle resting on the other knee

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A Polish military and political leader.
Before the First World War, he established and participated in several underground organizations that intended to re-independence Poland. He was a soldier of the Polish Legion in the First World War, and later served in the Polish Army in the Posso War (1919-1921).

During the Second World War, Sikorski became the Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army was a strong supporter of Polish diplomacy. He supported the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union. The relations between Poland and the Soviet Union signed the Soviet-German non-aggression treaty in Molotov and Ribbentrop, and the Germans were seriously damaged when they launched the Polish campaign. Because Sikorsky insisted that the International Red Cross investigate the Katyn massacre, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin announced in April 1943 that he would sever the relations between Poland and the Soviet Union.

Sikorski had been the most prestigious leader of the Polish exiles, and his death was a severe setback for the Polish cause.

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The main language spoken in Poland is Polish.
Main foreign language
English (33%)
Russian (26%)
German (19%)

As we can see, A lot of people who learn the language depends on the region of Poland. People who live in Eastern part of Poland are more likely to choose Russian to its usability in that region.There are many businesses in West part of Poland that work together with German clients, or sell goods to Germany. because people who know that German at least their communicative level are on demand.

On this diagram you can how confident people are in the top 6 foreign language.
Dark Green - Fluent
Green - Good
Light Orange - Basic
Orange - Only basic words
Red - Lack of knowledge

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Biography

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A really famous composer  and pianist in Poland and France. He is one of the most influential and popular piano composers in history. He is one of the most important figures in the history of Polish music and the 19th century European romantic music representative person

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A Polish mathematician and astronomer in the Renaissance, he advocated the heliocentric model and mentioned that the sun is the center of the universe. It opened the Copernican revolution and promoted the scientific revolution.

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A complex of 48 concentration and extermination camps created by Nazi Germany in encroachment Poland during World war 2.
There are three main camps in the Auschwitz concentration camp: Auschwitz (1st Camp), Birkenau (2nd Camp), Monovets (3rd Camp) and 39 small camps or factories. The main purpose is to kill Jews or perform extremely rigorous work, collective executions or inhuman human experiments on their host.

The Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army on January 27, 1945. In 1947, the Polish parliament passed legislation to change the museum of the Nazi Holocaust, the Auschwitz-Birkenau National Museum, as a history of infamous crimes during the Nazi German rule in the Second World War. In 1979, UNESCO listed the Auschwitz concentration camp as a World Heritage Site.

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In Poland, being polite and courteous is very important. Men need to kiss ladies hands with decorum. And the gift for women need to be an odd flower. For men the standard gift is alcohol, and it must always drinks from the glass instead.

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I want to preserve the culture of Poland in the Kaleidoscope project because the polish culture has greatly evolved over the years having been influenced by geographic location of the country at the confluence of European region with their distinct cultures. It means they are many thing deserve to investigate.