Pope recalls Poland’s vows to Mary under communism

“I cordially greet the Poles. I join spiritually with those gathered in Częstochowa,” Pope Leo XIV said during the Wednesday General Audience.

The Pope recalled the Jasna Góra Vows of the Polish Nation, one of the most significant events in the history of the Church in post-war Poland, when, under communist rule, the Church became one of the principal defenders of religious freedom and the spiritual identity of the Polish people.

Written by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński while interned by Poland’s communist authorities, the text of the vows was first read before around 500,000 faithful.

“May the program of society’s moral renewal contained in them, through the protection of human life, care for marriage and the family, and the education of children and young people, continue to inspire the building of justice and fraternity,” the Holy Father said.