A martyred Polish priest was praised for standing against the oppressive forces of Communism when he defended human rights in his sermons during a beatification Mass.
More than 140,000 people listened intently during the ceremony in Pilsudski Square, Warsaw, as Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Saints' Causes, recalled how Fr Jerzy Popieluszko "did not yield to temptation to survive in this death camp" under tyranny.
"Fr Jerzy... helped only by spiritual means, such as truth, justice and love, demanded freedom of conscience for citizen and priest," Archbishop Amato said of the 37-year-old priest who was linked to the Solidarity labour movement and murdered by police. "But the lost ideology did not accept the light of truth and justice.
