Presentation of Missionary Crosses to two Michaelites: Fr. Piotr Dabrowski and Fr. Pawel Zagorski.
**Fourteen missionaries—12 priests, a nun, and a lay person, including two Michalites: Fr. Piotr Dąbrowski and Fr. Paweł Zagórski—received missionary crosses on April 28, 2024, in Gniezno from the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland, Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi. "As you receive the cross, remember that you are not employees of a non-governmental organization, but, like St. Adalbert, you carry the Gospel of Christ, the Church of Christ, and Christ himself," said the nuncio.**
The Apostolic Nuncio to Poland expressed his wishes for the missionaries with the words of Pope Francis, with which he began his pontificate: "I would like us all to have the courage to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the cross of the Lord; to build the Church on the blood of the Lord, which was shed on the cross, and to profess the one glory of Christ crucified, and thus the Church will move forward."
Archbishop Antonio Guido Filipazzi also admitted that this was his first pilgrimage to St. Adalbert, who had become very close to him in recent months, because every day in the chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature he sees two images of him.
He also emphasized that he is aware of the religious, historical, and cultural significance of Gniezno for the Polish state. He asked those present at the indulgences celebrations to pray through the intercession of St. Adalbert, "that I may have at least some of his zeal for the matters of the Kingdom of God."
Fourteen missionaries received missionary crosses: 12 priests, one lay person, and one nun. They will travel to Kazakhstan, Zambia, Argentina, Martinique, Tanzania, Ecuador, Cuba, Papua New Guinea, and Bolivia.
The ceremony of presenting missionary crosses has a long tradition. It was first performed by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Gniezno on June 3, 1979. At that time, he presented missionary crosses to 12 Verbists. The ceremony was repeated 18 years later, in 1997, during the Polish pope's second visit to the tomb of St. Adalbert. A year later, it became a permanent part of the program of the Gniezno pilgrimage celebrations, and the missionary crosses were presented each year by the apostolic nuncio in Poland with a few words of encouragement.
