Pope remembers heroism of Polish fighters during WWII uprising

Vatican City, Aug 1, 2004 / 22:00 pm

The Vatican Press office released a letter today, which Pope John Paul II sent to his native Poland on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, praising the heroism of those who went to war for freedom.

“As a son of this nation, I wish to give hommage to the heros in that August uprising, to the dead and those who are still living,” he wrote.

“I kneel before the rebels who in the unfair fight did not spare their blood and their lives for the cause of their country,” he continued. “Even if in the end, for the lack of adequate arms and due to the external conditions, they experienced a military loss, their actions remain forever in the memory of the nation as the highest expression of patriotism.

“How much love for their country must have been in the hearts of those who, despite their young age, little more than children who were beginning to face life, would climb into the barricades in the name of liberty itself and of the entire community.

He concluded his letter, asking God, through his grace, to make the hearts of the Polish people ever more noble “so that the memory of the heroic actions of their ancestors is … a motivating example of love for their county that even in times of peace is expressed in placing the common good before personal matters.”