Fr Jarek Kurek OSB, a monk of Glenstal Abbey and a chaplain to the local Polish community, invites you to the welcome of the relics of the blessed martyrs Zbigniew Strzałkowski and Michal Tomaszek at the Church of Saint Joseph and Saint Brigid in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, at 1pm on Sunday 21st April.
Fathers Strzałkowski and Tomaszek were Polish Conventual Franciscans martyred in Peru in 1991. The young friars were known for their dedicated pastoral work in the far-flung villages of the Andes mountains, and for their heroic decision to continue their mission despite the threats made against their lives.
Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly of the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly will welcome the relics during the 1pm Mass and will be joined by Abbot Brendan Coffey OSB of Glenstal Abbey and Maciej Wojcik, First Secretary and Consul of the Republic of Poland in Ireland.
Father Jarek said: “the Polish community have been generously welcomed by the people of Ireland to their land and workplaces over the past two decades.
We now wish to share and promote the veneration of these heroic Polish martyrs with our Irish brothers and sisters, hoping that many spiritual benefits might be brought to this island through the intercession of the blessed martyrs Zbigniew Strzałkowski and Michal Tomaszek.”
