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Jubilee of Migrants in Poland
Eric Hounake, SVD
The celebration began with Holy Mass on Saturday, October 4, at 4:00 p.m. at Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish in Mroków, one of the pastoral centers for the Vietnamese community. The Mass was presided over by Fr. Joseph Nguyen, one of the chaplains of the Vietnamese community in Poland. At the beginning of the Mass, the Provincial Superior expressed his sincere gratitude to the Vietnamese community for their living testimony of faith.
On Sunday, October 5, the main celebration took place at St. Hedwig of Silesia Parish in Warsaw. The Holy Mass was presided over by Most Rev. Romuald Kamiński, Bishop of the Diocese of Warsaw–Praga. The liturgy was celebrated in Polish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and several African languages, reflecting the rich cultural diversity of the faithful.
St. Hedwig of Silesia Parish is a remarkable example of intercultural migrant pastoral ministry coordinated by the Divine Word Missionaries. Every Sunday, Masses are celebrated in different languages for various communities. All pastoral activities for migrants are coordinated by the SVD Migrant Center Fu Shenfu, founded twenty years ago. It is a place where everyone—regardless of language or culture—can find help, support, and welcome, a place where Christ is encountered in every person who enters.
The SVD Migrant Center conducts Polish and English language courses, organizes prayer gatherings and festive celebrations, and supports migrants from countries such as Ukraine, Vietnam, China, Argentina, India, and Tunisia. In mid-September, another semester of Polish language courses for foreigners began.
The Center is not only a space for learning and material assistance, but above all, a place for building community, where the most important thing is “simply being together.” In this way, the Center addresses one of the greatest challenges faced by migrants in Warsaw—loneliness and the feeling of being a stranger in a new country.
The Jubilee celebrations were also an opportunity to be reminded that migrants are not only beneficiaries of assistance but also bearers of faith, traditions, and hope within the life of the Church. The motto of this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees—“Migrants, Missionaries of Hope”—echoes the motto of the Jubilee Year, “Pilgrims of Hope.” It highlights that migrants, through their lived experiences, become witnesses of Christ and strengthen local communities by the hope they carry.
