On Sunday, 5,000 Poles marched for life and family.
“We want to send a signal not only to the whole Poland but also to the whole world that there are men in Poland who take responsibility, that they do not run away from it,” said Pawel Ozdoba, president of the Center for Life and Family, opening the 16th National March for Life and Family in Warsaw. The number of participants, which numbered about 5,000 exceeded the organizers’ expectations.
The slogan of this year’s march was “Daddy – be, guide, protect.” The event is organized by the Center for Life and Family in cooperation with the Christian Social Congress. Due to the pandemic, this year’s march took place only in Warsaw and not in 140 cities across Poland, as was the case so far.
Polish President Andrzej Duda met with the organizers on Sunday morning. During the conversation, they discussed, among other things, demands for increasing the protection of human life from conception to natural death.
The event was attended by representatives of the Church, media, actors, athletes, scientists, etc. Also present were members of such communities as the Knights of Columbus, the Knights of John Paul II, and the Warriors of Mary. There were also people with disabilities. At the end of the event, Holy Mass was celebrated at 1:00 p.m. at the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.
The participants of the event were greeted by the President of the Polish Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki. “I greet all the participants in the March for Life and Family, which takes place in Warsaw under the slogan: Dad – be, guide, protect! May Blessed Cardinal Wyszynski and Blessed Mother Czacka support you in showing that everyone has the right to life, and the family is the most precious good of humanity,” Archbishop Gądecki wrote on Twitter.
An important reference for the organizers and participants in this year’s march was the teaching of the new blessed, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, who along with Mother Elżbieta Czacka was beatified on September 12 of this year. Cardinal Wyszyński was a great defender of the dignity of human life, marriage, and family. “So often the Primate of the Millennium was called +Father of the Nation+, hence the connection. We wanted to show that Polish fathers are responsible,” said Paweł Ozdoba, President of the Center for Life and Family, opening the march. He stressed that nowadays the family and the whole society need the authority of the father.
During the march, the importance of spiritual adoption of the conceived child was also emphasized, which is a concrete act of support for pregnant women and their close ones.
Sunday’s march was a great pro-life and pro-family manifestation. The number of participants exceeded the organizers’ expectations.
Family News Service
