July 16, 2018

Bishop Rozanski, Father Dailey to lead pilgrims to Poland, Vienna, Prague

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Sharon Roulier

 

SPRINGFIELD – Thirty-four pilgrims set off on a 12-day faith-filled journey to holy sites in Poland, Vienna and Prague.

The group, led by Springfield Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski and Father Gary M. Dailey, director of the Newman Catholic Center at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, will be traveling to shrines, cathedrals, monasteries and many sites in these countries.

“I think of the Christian roots of Europe and all of those beautiful shrines and places that we will visit and where we’ll be able to pray and to take in the beautiful sites. I’m looking forward to visiting some of those shrines that I’ve been to before, but also to those that I haven’t been,” said Bishop Rozanski, as he and the pilgrims boarded a chartered bus in the parking lot of Mary Mother of Hope Parish in Springfield. The bus would be taking them to Logan International Airport in Boston for their evening flight to Poland.

“I want the people to be able to experience Eastern Europe for its faith, and particularly Poland, for people to be able to experience the influence of Pope John Paul II,” said Father Dailey. Father Dailey has led several pilgrimages over the last decade, including this latest one, all sponsored by the Catholic Communications Corporation of the Diocese of Springfield.

For Linda Lynch and her husband, Deacon Tom Lynch, this latest pilgrimage seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Linda Lynch says that having Polish roots, she was excited to be able to walk in the footsteps of St. John Paul II, who was born in Wadowice, Poland.

“Of course, John Paul II has always been my pope so going to his hometown will be special,” she said.

She also said that because the trip was a pilgrimage, and not a vacation, she expected that the 12 days would be “moving, prayerful and spiritual.”

Brittany Poplaski, of Pittsfield, is making the pilgrimage with her aunt and uncle, Nicolette and Walter McGovern.

Poplaski, who said she recently had her DNA tested through Ancestry.com, is 78 percent Polish. She said she was looking forward to visiting Auschwitz, the former World War II Nazi concentration camp, where millions of Poles, Jews and Christians and others lost their lives. Poplaski said she knows of five people with the same last name as her mother’s, Brzostek, who are listed among the dead there.

Nicolette McGovern said she and her husband have been on pilgrimages before and always return “a changed person.”

She said she is looking forward to “contemplating, meditating, savoring the moment and letting go and let God.”

The pilgrims arrive in Warsaw July 17 and will spend time in Czestochowa at the Jasna Gora Monastery; Krakow; Auschwitz; the Shrine of Divine Mercy; Vienna; and Prague before returning to the United States July 27.

Photos and highlights of the pilgrimage will be posted on the Catholic Communications and Bishop Mitch Rozanski Facebook pages.