10th Gniezno Convention opens
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
11.03.2016 08:42
“Europe of New Beginnings. The Liberating Power of Christianity” is the motto of the 10th Gniezno Convention which opens today in the western town of Gniezno, the cradle of Polish statehood and Catholicism and Poland’s first capital.
The city of Gniezno. Photo: Flickr.com/Janusz Kaliszczak
It is an international gathering of an ecumenical and inter-religious character which is also open to non-believers who are committed to building what Pope Francis describes as a “culture of encounter”.
The Convention opened with prayers by the event’s chaplains from three Christian traditions: Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical, followed by remarks by the Roman Catholic Primate of Poland Archbishop Wojciech Polak and Eastern Orthodox Archbishop Jeremiasz, and an address by President Andrzej Duda. The first plenary session focuses on the 1050th anniverary of the Baptism of Poland, with a keynote paper under the motto: “What have we done; what will we do with our baptism?”.
The guests of the three-day Convention include Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio to Poland; Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila; Archbishop Matteo Zuppi of Bologne, Janina Ochojska of the Polish Humanitarian Action, and Professor Pal. H.Dembinski of the Geneva Observatory of the Finances.
The tradition of the Gniezno Conventions goes back to the year 1000 when the German Emperor Otto III, a friend of St. Adalbert before the bishop’s martyr’s death, arrived at his tomb in Gniezno. He placed a coronet on the head of Polish king Bolesław (Boleslaus) the Brave and presented him with the spear of St. Maurice. This symbolic gesture is regarded as the beginning of the sovereign Polish state and Poland’s entry into the group of European countries.
Following Otto’s consent, Rome finally permitted the foundation of the first Polish archbishopric in Gniezno. (mk/rg)