ARCHBISHOP KONRAD KRAJEWSKI FOR ‘SUNDAY’
JASNA GÓRA IS A GOOD DIRECTION
KS. MARIUSZ FRUKACZ
Under the motto ‘Baptism as the gate of mercy’, on 24 August the 91st Pilgrimage from Łódź arrived at Jasna Góra on foot. This year’s pilgrimage, is the time of gratitude for the World Youth Days in Poland and the gift of Baptism of Poland.
Pilgrims were welcomed by archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, the metropolita of Łódź. In the group ‘6’ there was archbishop Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, as a pilgrim.
In an interview for Radio Jasna Góra and TV Sunday, archbishop Krajewski said that ‘Having returned from Cracow, the Holy Father Francis reminded me of my pilgrimage so I arrived to make a pilgrimage’.
‘When we let the Holy Spirit act in our life, we win thanks to it and so do everybody around us’ - archbishop Krajewski continued.
The Papal almoner shared his testimony with everybody, in which he emphasized: ‘Participating in the pilgrimage I know that I am going in a good direction, as Jasna Góra is a good direction. Everybody goes on a pilgrimage with his weaknesses and sins. This is a pilgrims’ march, not a walk along an alley of the deserved, but we face ourselves and we also carry ourselves and others’. It is easier to carry others than ourselves. For me it is not easy either, as I also have sins’.
Asked about his intentions in the pilgrimage, he emphasized: ‘I am going on the pilgrimage with the intentions of the poor, and the Holy Father had asked me for it’. – I somehow bring them here, to Jasna Góra. When I say the rosary prayer, every time when I say ‘Hail Mary…’ I mention their names – said archbishop Krajewski.
Asked about what the word ‘Mercy’ in his Bishop’s crest means to him, the Papal Almoner said: ‘I do not know. Such things are inexplicable. When the Holy Father appointed me an archbishop, I knew that there could not be a different word than ‘Mercy’.
Asked by TV Sunday whether the Holy Father Francis had asked for a particular intention, Archbishop Krajewski emphasized that ‘the Holy Father asked me to pray for him’.
AA
36/2016