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“We have been treated as sons and brothers, we felt at home in the heart of the Church,” wrote the Polish bishops gathered at the 390th Plenary Meeting of the Polish Bishops’ Conference at Jasna Gora in a letter to Pope Francis.
The bishops expressed gratitude for their meetings at the Dicasteries of the Holy See and for their personal meetings with the Pope. “We thank you for your presence, which is the first name of love, and for the generous gift of time. We were treated as sons and brothers, we felt at home in the heart of the Church. We saw a moving example of humility, fraternity, and dialogue that begins with listening and leads to sharing the richness of one’s spirit,” they wrote.
In the letter, the bishops also spoke of the Synod on synodality that has begun. “We want to create a community of people who learn to understand one another in order to listen together to the Holy Spirit. To learn a dialogue in which listening takes precedence over speaking, understanding over judging, sharing over discussing, which presupposes a constant readiness for reconciliation,” they noted.
The bishops assured the Holy Father of their prayer for his intentions at the throne of Our Lady of Jasna Gora.
Press Office of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
We are publishing the full text of the letter:
Czestochowa, 19 November 2021
Beloved Holy Father!
The Polish Bishops, gathered in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Czestochowa of Jasna Gora for their annual spiritual exercises and the 390th Plenary Meeting of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, send Your Holiness an expression of their filial devotion.
With great gratitude we recall our recent visit ad limina Apostolorum: the opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist in the Papal Basilicas, at the tomb of Saint Peter and Saint John Paul II, and the fruitful meetings at the numerous Dicasteries of the Holy See, which assist the Holy Father in his pastoral care for all the Churches.
The personal encounters with Your Holiness are deeply etched in the memory of every heart. We thank you for your presence, which is the first name of love, and for the generous gift of time. We were treated as sons and brothers, we felt at home in the heart of the Church. We saw a moving example of humility, fraternity, and dialogue that begins with listening and leads to sharing the richness of one’s spirit.
We accept with joy the invitation to journey together For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission. We want to create a community of people who learn to understand one another in order to listen together to the Holy Spirit. To learn a dialogue in which listening takes precedence over speaking, understanding over judging, sharing over discussing, which presupposes a constant readiness for reconciliation.
Five years ago, here at Jasna Gora, you said that Mary “is that space preserved in freedom from evil, where God has reflected Himself; she is the stairway which God climbed to come down to us and to become close and concrete. To you who come to her, may she continue to show you the way and help you to weave in your lives, the humble and simple content of the Gospel.”
Holy Father, we commend you to the intercession of Our Lady of Jasna Góra. May God grant you health and fortitude, so that you may continue to strengthen your brothers and sisters in the faith, to be a companion on their journeys, sharing their joys and sorrows, and teaching them to draw abundantly from the springs of the Spirit.
Bishops gathered at the 390th Plenary Meeting of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
Translated by: Sr. P. Nau/Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference
