Crusade Against Madonna

As Innocent as a Virgin?

In order to block Madonna from playing a concert in Warsaw, public prayers and field masses will be held each day for two consecutive weeks between 31st July and 15th August. This ‘crusade’ is being led by Mazovian regional councillor Marian Brudzyński who is a former prominent member of the League of Polish Families (LPR). Together with his own Committee of Defending Faith and National Heritage Pro Polonia and supported by parish activists, councillor Brudzyński wants to “veto” Madonna’s concert. According to Brudzyński, “the obscene artist”, as he calls Madonna, is at odds with the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary church festival and the anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw, also known as the so-called Vistula Miracle. Both of these celebrations will take place on 15th August, the very same day Madonna appears live in Warsaw.

The Pro Polonia committee has already petitioned Allegro.pl to withdraw from sponsoring the concert, but Allegro.pl has declined. After the fiasco of warning letters and petitions submitted to local and government authorities, Pro Polonia decided to actively demonstrate its opposition. It is preparing a “public praying crusade”, which is to take place in front of Warsaw’s City Hall. The slogan for this protest is “If victory comes, it will come through the Virgin Mary!”. In a manifesto signed by Brudzyński and entitled “Is Warsaw a trash bin?” we can read: “We start with a small gathering of  maybe several hundred people and I believe it will end with the whole square filled with ordinary Poles praying.” Brudzyński also adds that: “We have approached church authorities for permission to hold a field mass and received the necessary approval. The former chaplain of Solidarity Reverend Stanisław Małkowski will lead the mass”. The script for the first day is as follows: public prayers will begin with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy; then “on the image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa we will place a sign with a question to the authorities ‘Will you not be afraid to look into the eyes of the Queen?’” states the councillor. After mass, there is going to be a rosary procession under the banner of the Virgin Mary,” he adds. Pro Polonia also requested help from catholic priests, Law and Justice (PiS) and the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński. In a letter submitted to priests we can read that: “For their thousand-year-old service to Rome Poles do not deserve to be abandoned by their own priests. Let us act together – the victory of the Virgin Mary will be spectacular!”. The councillor says that he is uplifted by the reaction of the clergy and disappointed by PiS and President Kaczyński.

Causing a Stir

Brudzyński’s pledge for aid has fallen on deaf ears and no local PiS politicians have answered it. The Chancellery of the Polish President said that this matter falls outside its jurisdiction. “Lech Kaczyński is a declared patriot and Piłsudski-ite. I am greatly disappointed that the concert of such an obscene artist, which will take place on the same day as a Polish army holiday and the anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw, is not outrageous to the head of the armed forces and a person who adheres to national traditions,” says Brudzyński. Also, despite an explanation given by the city authorities that it is not City Hall that organises the concert, representatives of the protesting committee are considering asking the Archbishop of Warsaw Kazimierz Nycz to suspend Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz’s membership of the catholic community, i.e. to excommunicate her. “This is a temporary exclusion from the Church for the Mayor of Warsaw. It is to be used when Catholics work to the disadvantage of the faith. An excommunicated person can enter the vestibule, but cannot receive the sacraments,” explains the leader of the committee.
Gazeta Wyborcza

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