Special Mass to welcome the relics of two Polish Martyrs well attended
Deputy Michael Lowry described it as a very touching and special occasion
The celebration of Mass by Archbishop of Cashel and Emly Kieran O’Reilly at Saint Joseph and Saint Brigid Church, Bohernanave on Good Shepherd Sunday has been described by Deputy Michael Lowry as a very touching and special occasion.
The Mass was to welcome the relics of two Polish martyrs, Blessed Zbigniew Strzalkowski and Michal Tomaszek.
In 1989, Blessed Zbigniew and Michal left their homeland for Peru to start missionary work in the Andes, where they worked in a parish consisting of 90 villages, with no water or power supplies.
In 1991, they were warned by the terrorist organisation Shining Path that they would to be killed if they stayed, but they chose to remain with their flock.
Sadly, they were shot dead by the terrorists on August 9, 1991, directly after a Mass they had celebrated in the local church in Pariacoto.
The beatification of the two martyrs took place on 5 December 2015 at a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Amato and 500 other priests, with a congregation of 25,000 people gathered at the stadium in Chimbote, Peru.