Holy Mass in Vatican to mark 30th anniversary of Visegrad Group
15.02.2021
On 15 February 2021, precisely on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Visegrad Group, High Mass was celebrated at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter on initiative of Ambassador Janusz Kotański. Before the mass, Ambassador Janusz Kotański and his Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian counterparts - Václav Kolaja, Marek Lisánsky, and Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen respectively, laid wreath on St. John Paul II’s tomb.
The mass was officiated by the Secretary for the Pontifical Representations Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawłowski, acting head of the Third Section of the Holy See’s Secretariat of State. Priests from the Visegrad Group countries, including Poland, concelebrated the service.
In his homily, Archbishop Pawłowski recalled pope John Paul II’s prophetic appeal in Gniezno on his first pilgrimage to Poland on 3 June 1979. On that day, the first Slavic pope called on the European nations to reconstruct the Christian identity of the Old Continent.
The Vatican official noted that the pope’s call remains relevant as Europe, however free from wars, is still overwhelmed by the pandemic, and has plunged into crisis, also spiritual. Archbishop Pawłowski also recalled the Polish pope’s concept of the two lungs that Europe should breathe. He referred to the difficult history of the Visegrad Group’s countries from the times of saints Cyril and Methodius until common struggle to break the fetters of two totalitarian regimes - national socialism and communism. To conclude, the hierarch quoted Pope Francis as he had spoken to the faithful from St. Peter’s Square during the pandemic in March 2020: “Let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives. Let us hand over our fears to him so that he can conquer them.”
After the Holy Mass, in his speech, Ambassador Kotański recalled both the history of the Visegrad Group and its current tasks under Poland’s presidency, inspired by the motto “Back on track”. He also mentioned the Group’s future goals. The ambassador noted that it has been Poland’s sixth presidency of the V4, and it is a great honour for us to be able to attend a thanksgiving mass in Vatican at the tomb of St. Peter in the year of our presidency. The ambassador also highlighted St. John Paul II’s role in the restoration of dignity of nations enslaved by the Soviet communism, and thanked Pope Francis for his living memory of his great predecessor.
The Holy Mass was attended by nearly a hundred people, including representatives of the diplomatic corps, media, Rome-based institutions of the V4 countries, nuns. Present were also ambassadors of the Visegrad Group countries accredited to the Italian Republic. The event was broadly reported by the media.
MFA Press Office
Photo: Grzegorz Gałązka
