BEATIFICATION OF DON STEFAN WINCENTY FRELICHOWSKI

VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 1999 (VIS) - At 6:30 p.m. in a large open area at the airport of Torun, the Pope presided at the rite of beatification for Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski (1913-1945), a Polish priest of the diocese of Pelplin and, following that, led an act of devotion in honor of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

After reading a brief biography of Fr. Stefan, the Holy Father read the formula proclaiming him a Blessed and thereafter the devotions in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus took place.

Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski was ordained a priest in 1937. Two years later he was arrested by the Germans and interred in various concentration camps where he became a point of spiritual reference for all the prisoners. In 1945 he covertly assisted typhus sufferers at Dachau, and contracted the disease himself. He died on February 23 of that year, at just 32 years of age.

In his homily, John Paul II indicated that "the Heart of the Saviour (is) the tangible sign of His invincible love and the inexhaustible source of true peace."

"The Church," he said, "lives ceaselessly by the Gospel of peace. She proclaims it to all peoples and nations. Tirelessly she indicates the paths of peace and reconciliation. She ushers in peace by breaking down the walls of prejudice and hostility between people. She does this first of all through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation; bringing the grace of divine mercy and forgiveness."

Then, speaking of the new Blessed, the Pope said: "His whole life, in fact, is a kind of mirror reflecting the light of that teaching of Christ according to which true happiness is attained only by those who, in union with God, become men and women of peace, peacemakers who bring peace to others."

The Pope affirmed that "societies and nations need men and women of peace, authentic sowers of harmony and mutual respect. ... Both history and the events of our own day show that the world cannot give peace. The world is often powerless. That is why it is necessary to point to Jesus Christ, who by His Death on the Cross has left His peace to mankind. How much innocent blood has been shed in the 20th century, in Europe and throughout the world, because certain political and social systems forsook the principles of Christ that guarantee a just peace. How much innocent blood is being shed under our very eyes. The tragic events in Kosovo have demonstrated this and still are demonstrating this in a very painful way. We are witnesses to how strongly people cry out for and yearn for peace."

"Our memory of the Second World War is still vivid, the wounds inflicted by that cataclysm of history will need much time to be completely healed. May the cry for peace spread out from this place to the entire world! I wish to repeat the words I spoke this year in the Easter 'Urbi et Orbi' message: 'Peace is possible, peace is a duty, peace is a prime responsibility of everyone!'"

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