POLAND: Missionary Cooperation and the sense of service at the centre of the annual meeting of the PMS
Expanding and strengthening missionary cooperation and reflecting on the service of the Pontifical Mission Societies were the main themes of the autumn meeting of the Polish PMS held on 10 and 11 September 2024 in Warsaw.
The meeting was attended by more than 100 people.The meeting was opened by the play ‘Heart Without Borders’ based on the life of Cardinal Adam Kozłowiecki, a Jesuit and missionary in Zambia, who was a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Dachau camps during World War II.
The National Director, Fr Maciej Będziński, led the meeting and invited everyone to reflect on the missionary cooperation of the Church in Poland. It should encourage the exchange of experiences and ideas in order to plan missionary animation and cooperation for the coming pastoral year.
The President of the Polish Episcopal Commission for Missions, His Exc. Msgr. Jan Piotrowski, introduced the content of Pope Francis' message for World Mission Day 2024. During this year's meeting, a novelty in the programme was introduced, namely some delegations of priests and nuns and representatives of dioceses presented their proposals for missionary animation.
In their various interventions, representatives of the offices of the Bishops' Commission for the Missions reported on their activities. These included the Missionary Training Centre, MIVA Polska, and the ‘Ad Gentes’ Aid Works.
The first day of the meeting ended with the Holy Mass presided over by Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Ordinary of Warsaw, and celebrated in the shrine at the tomb of Blessed George Popiełuszko, on the 40th anniversary of his martyrdom.
The Holy Mass presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland, His Exc. Msgr. Antonio Guido Filipazzi, instead, started the second day during which the national secretaries of the four Pontifical Mission Societies gave a summary of the year just ended and presented the programme of activities for the next one. Among them were Father Luca Bovio IMC, national secretary of PMU, who reported on the aid and projects in favour of the war-stricken Ukraine.
