Pope encourages women on Polish pilgrimage to joyful witness

After the Angelus prayer, Francis addressed a thought to the many participants in the traditional gathering held at the Marian shrine in Piekary Śląskie.

“Witness the Gospel with joy in the family and society”, Pope Francis said at the Sunday Angelus, in greetings to the tens of thousands of girls and women who participated in the pilgrimage to Piekary Śląskie. This place of worship was dedicated to Mary in the 17th century. According to tradition, the boys and men’s pilgrimage takes place in May, and the girls and women’s pilgrimage in August.

This year, Cardinal Gerhard Müller presided over the Mass and delivered the homily, during which he stressed that “standing under the Cross of Jesus, and not cowardly running away, is what makes a true Christian”. He added that the scene of the women under the Cross “also shows us the special charisms of women or, as Pope John Paul II pointed out, the religious genius of women”.