The National March for Life and the Family was held in Poland’s capital on Sunday, June 18. The event’s motto was “Children are the Future of Poland”. Similar events have been planned that very day in Krakow, Wrocław, Katowice, Poznań, Sieradz, and Żary. Pro-life marches are held in several hundred Polish towns and cities between April and September.
As Paweł Ozdoba, President of the Centre of Life and the Family, the event’s organiser, observed: “We are marching to bear public witness and to demonstrate to Poland, Europe, and the world our commitment to true values. During the marches, families come together and inspire others with their happiness. The march is an expression of support for marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Today’s event is not only an opportunity to promote the family, but also to show the validity of a certain cultural pattern. It is important to stand up for these values. The family is a unique social unit, a place where the miracle of birth takes place”.
This year’s motto “Children are the Future of Poland” is a reference to the beatification of the Ulma family members, scheduled to take place in September this year. Beatified during the ceremony will be an unborn child, an unprecedented event in the history of the Church. Paweł Ozdoba stressed that the motto of the march indicates the need to recognise that unborn children, too, are the future of the country: “We need to constantly care for them so that they have the right to live and lest anyone should deprive them of this fundamental right”. Today’s march included tiny references to the imminent beatification.
The participants engaged in spiritual adoption of a conceived child, which consists in praying for nine months in the intention of one unborn child whose life is in peril. “This is our spiritual gift which is in line with the event’s motto. We also reminisced on John Paul II’s teaching on the right to life. He is the patron saint of the family precisely because of his steadfastness in proclaiming the civilization of life”, observed Paweł Ozdoba, and added: “We want to be a clear signal that we still remember the teachings of the Polish Pope and consider them both valuable and valid”.
Paweł Ozdoba has been involved in pro-life activities for many years. As he admitted: “For me, the family is a priceless sanctuary of peace, full of joy and happiness, the foundation of my private life, something to refer to, always a safe place, guaranteeing a full range of love from the whole family, not only my wife and children, but also grandparents, siblings, etc.”.
One participant in the march stressed that a great number of families attended the event despite the rain. “What’s more, it’s an international march and we can hear different languages. The family is the primary place for raising the young generation. We want to show that the family is power, bonds and, above all, love”, noted another participant of the march.
The first March for Life and the Family was held in 2006 in Warsaw. Since then, more than 150 towns and cities from all over Poland have hosted the event, which gathers parents with children, senior citizens, members of movements and associations, and public figures. In 2022, nearly 10,000 people took part in the march in Warsaw alone.
The Warsaw march set off at 11 am from Castle Square and was also attended by representatives of the pro-life movement from abroad. After its conclusion, Holy Mass was celebrated at the Basilica of the Holy Cross. At the end, a concert entitled “To the City and the World” was planned in Warsaw, with the participation of about 100 young people sharing an experience of faith in their lives, a reference to the 40th anniversary of one of John Paul II’s pilgrimages to Poland. The march was held under the honorary auspices of the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki. This initiative was also supported by the bishops of two dioceses of Warsaw: Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz and Bishop Romuald Kamiński.
The National March for Life and the Family is one of many pro-life initiatives held in Poland. More than 1,500 people took part in the 11th Congress of Large Families in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, taking place on June 16-18. The purpose of the event, whose motto was “The Family Builds a Good Climate”, was to integrate and promote a favourable image of large families. The Congress is organized by the “Three Plus” Union of Large Families, which currently has over 10,000 members in more than a hundred chapters across Poland.
