Under the motto “Children are the future of Poland” on Sunday at At 11:00 on the Castle Square in Warsaw, the 18th National March for Life and Family began. Thousands of Poles manifested their attachment to the family and the right to life from conception to natural death.
Participants of the March carried emblems, white and red balloons and t-shirts. Pictures with prayers for children were also distributed. Banners with pro-life slogans and images of John Paul II reminded of the right to life as inalienable for every human being. The youngest had the opportunity to draw their future, which – as it was emphasized – is the future of Poland.
The parents present at the March wanted to testify that having children is not only the effort associated with upbringing and costs, but also a gift for spouses and the whole society. As every year, whole families came to bear witness and share joy.
The march ended with a solemn Holy Mass in the Basilica of St. Cross, presided over by Fr. prof. Robert Skrzypczak.
Children are the future of the nation
“Do we, Poles, want to be God’s special property among other nations, having Him in our hearts and in front of our eyes? Or do we prefer to become like other nations, imitating their way of life, their values or anti-values?” – asked Fr. prof. Robert Skrzypczak during his homily. He recalled the words of John Paul II, spoken in Warsaw and then repeated in Kalisz: “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without a future.”
Fr. prof. Skrzypczak pointed out that nowadays the awareness of evil in the conscience of many people was gradually blurring. He also recalled the passage from John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” that “The acceptance of abortion by mentality, custom and even by law is an eloquent sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which gradually loses the ability to distinguish between good and evil, even when it comes to fundamental right to life”.
Fr. prof. Skrzypczak pointed to the ideological struggle with the institution of the family and attempts to replace it with other constructs. He said that the aggressive feminist movement “set off an anti-Marian bomb” hitting all the values that Mary represents.
“Today, there are about 300 million single people in the world. In the European Union, statistically, every fourth apartment is occupied by singles. This is proof of the triumph of selfishness over love, an indicator of the disappearance of the personal-forming zones of family and community, which have been so carefully cultivated in our Christian society” – the priest said, noting that “the external manifestation of this process is anger and frustration, broken crucifixes and statues of the Mother of God, Madonna deprived of the head and limbs”. “It is the anger of spiritual orphans at the absence of the closest Person, the beloved Mother” – he emphasized.
Similar Marches were also held in other Polish cities, including Poznań, and smaller towns. The high attendance proves that Poles are still largely attached to traditional values, including family, and want to share this with others.
AW