More than 1,000 members of the Polish community in Dublin yesterday attended the inauguration of the Polish chaplaincy at a Mass concelebrated by Cardinal Józef Glemp, Archbishop of Warsaw.
St Audoen's Church in High Street was filled and the congregation overflowed outside. The Mass, which marked the inauguration of the church as the spiritual centre for Polish Catholics, was conducted in Polish and English and was marked with traditional Polish hymns and music.
Cardinal Glemp was joined by concelebrants, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, and the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Guiseppe Lazzarotto.
Cardinal Desmond Connell, Emeritus Archbishop of Dublin was also in attendance.
In the congregation was Lord Mayor of Dublin Vincent Jackson, the new Polish ambassador, Tadeusz Szumowski, and representatives of the Polish government. Dr Martin gave the homily which was translated into Polish. He said this was a very special day in the life of the Polish community.
"As Archbishop of Dublin I am happy to see that this church will be at the service, alongside those devoted to the traditional Latin Mass, to the many Poles who have come to Ireland in these last years," he said.
He said his prayer was that it would be a centre of faith and Christian care where the faith community would be a community which cared and showed solidarity.
The happy day was the fruit of initial contacts established by Cardinal Glemp and Cardinal Connell, Dr Martin said.
This was the day the archdiocese of Dublin reaffirmed the welcome that the Christian community in Dublin extended to those who had come to our shores and enriched our economy, our culture and our church, he said.
He wished to publicly pay tribute to the Polish Catholic community. "Poland can be proud of its emigrant community in Ireland and we are happy that in this centre Polish Catholics will receive pastoral care, information and support in their difficult moments and in happier times," Dr Martin said.
Fr Jarek Maszkiewicz, chaplain to the Polish community and now the new rector at the church, said he wanted to thank the Irish people, who were the most welcoming in Europe.