Pope encourages women on Polish pilgrimage to joyful witness

By Father Rafał Skitek

“Be joyful witnesses of the Gospel in your family and in society,” Pope Francis said during the Sunday Angelus, greeting the tens of thousands of girls and women who took part in the pilgrimage to Piekary Śląskie. This place of worship was dedicated to Mary in the 17th century. According to tradition, the pilgrimage for boys and men takes place in May, and for girls and women in August.

This year, Cardinal Gerhard Müller presided over the Mass and delivered the homily, during which he stressed that “standing under the cross of Jesus, and not cowardly fleeing, is what makes a true Christian.” He added that the scene of the women under the cross “also shows us the special charisms of women or, as Pope John Paul II pointed out, the religious genius of women.”

Women on a pilgrimage to Piekary Šląskie

“The Church is for evangelization”

Archbishop Adrian Galbas, Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Katowice, the territory where the Piekary shrine is located, stressed that “the Church is not a place of spiritual cure; the Church is there for evangelization.” He then referred to the motto of the pilgrimage: “I am in the Church, therefore I go there.”

The testimonies of the participants are encouraging: “This pilgrimage gives us strength for the whole year. Mary gives us strength,” said a woman from Katowice. Among the most recurring prayer intentions are health, harmony in the family, marriage and children.