Kwalifikacja śmierci polskich kapłanów z Wolnego Miasta Gdańska w świetle prawa kanonizacyjnego

Abstract

Martyrdom is a constant and timeless phenomenon. It decides about the truthfulness of the Church also in our times. In this respect a martyr is a teacher and an example to follow while the Church is obliged to be concerned about the cult of martyrs. In order to prove that a certain death can be classified as martyrdom in the light of canon law during the process of canonisation, it is not enough to consider only the fact of death. Ali the formal and legal elements demanded by the canonisation procedurę, as necessary to decide about the martyrdom should be taken into account. Thus a discussion of two elements: personal (the persecutor and the martyrs) and formal (i.e. the reasons of martyrdom on both sides – persecutor's and martyrs') must precede the estimation of the death itself in the light of the canon law. The aim of this study is to show and explain why – on the basis of the materials collected during the canonisation procedure – the death of three Polish priests from the Free Town of Gdańsk – F. Rogaczewski, B. Komorowski and M. Górecki – could be classified as martyrdom. It was possible because both the personal and formal, as well as the material and moral elements in respect to their deaths agreed with the current teaching of the Church about martyrdom. Furthermore, they appeared to agree with the present practice of Sacred Congregation for Causes of Saints, i.e. the style in which the canonisation processes are carried on by the Roman Curia. Eventually, on June 13th, 1999 the Pope John Paul I I beatified 108 Martyrs, among them the three priests from Gdańsk. They are the first blessed connected strictly with the diocese of Gdańsk where they worked and died. The proper understanding of the problem discussed in this study teaches us to look at the time of war not so much as the time of terror, destruction and death but – in a different, supernatural perspective – as the time of heroic love, sainthood and virtue, which still bring good fruit in the Church, against the will of the persecutors.