‘I was deeply moved to accept, together with Manuela Tulli, an ANSA journalist, the distinction awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland for disseminating knowledge about Poles saving Jews on the international arena’, commented Father Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, head of the Polish Section of Vatican media, on President Andrzej Duda’s decision to award the distinction. The solemn ceremony took place Thursday evening, May 2, at the Polish Embassy to the Holy See.
Manuela Tulli and Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik are the authors of a book about the Ulma family, Martyred and Blessed Together: The Extraordinary Story of the Ulma Family. To date, it has come out in Italian and English, while its Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese versions are in preparation. The book has been highly acclaimed by readers in various countries. It is a joint perspective of an Italian and a Pole on the history of the Ulma family in a historical context. The book was written and published in cooperation with the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
The Golden Cross of Merit was presented on behalf of Poland’s President by the Polish Ambassador to the Holy See, Adam Kwiatkowski. He stressed that this recognition is the result of the work put in by Manuela Tulia and Fr. Pawel Rytel-Andrianik in promoting outside Poland the heroism of Poles who saved Jews.
‘It is a great honour to be awarded the Cross of Merit by Poland for bringing the story of the Ulma family to Italy. Father Paweł and I only gave voice to a story that is extraordinary in itself. I would like to thank Ambassador A. Kwiatkowski for the recognition, and I would also like to thank all Poles’, commented Manuela Tulli. She added that the book is a ‘joint two-person effort’.
Fr. Rytel-Andrianik extended words of gratitude to Ambassador Kwiatkowski, Rector of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski, and the Abraham J. Heschel Centre for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin. He expressed his thanks to all collaborators, especially to his brother Artur Rytel-Andrianik, for his tremendous work of documenting Poles rescuing Jews. As head of the Polish Section of Vatican media stressed, ‘The Gold Cross of Merit is a fruit of shared work and commitment’.
In attendance at the decoration ceremony were the Polish Ambassador to the Holy See Adam Kwiatkowski, Poland’s Ambassador to Italy Anna Maria Anders, representatives of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, and Poles working at Vatican institutions. Msgr Salvatore Pennacchio, President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, was also present.
Manuela Tulli is a journalist with the ANSA Italian press agency. She became familiar with the history of the Ulma family during her trip to the Podkarpacie region of Poland to make a reportage on the aid offered by the Church to refugees from Ukraine. Quite by chance, she came across a series of photographs taken by Józef Ulma. Thrilled by the history of the ‘Polish Samaritans’ from Markowa, she resolved to make their story known in Italy. The journalist offered her 2023 book to Pope Francis on board a plane during one apostolic journey.
Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik is a priest in the Diocese of Drohiczyn. In July 2023, he was appointed director of the Polish Section of Vatican Radio and the Vatican News website. Former director for International Communication in the Secretariat of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, he is now deputy director of the A. J. Heschel Centre for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin. Between 2015 and 2020, Fr. Rytel-Andrianik was spokesman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.
