April 29 marks the day Polish Catholics solemnly remember when nearly 2,000 of the country’s 10,000 diocesan priests perished during the Nazi German occupation in World War II. The day coincides with the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp in Dachau, Germany.
Everyone’s reflections flashed across the face of a shiny, stone memorial on a speck of parkland called “Father Giorgio Triangle.” Etched into the memorial is the portrait of a young man — the park’s namesake.
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
Some of the most significant pictures I keep of my father are those where he is in his WWII uniform. The first is the wedding picture of my mother and my father. In 1943, he was deployed state-side, and he wore his uniform when they were married.
In remembering the estimated 4,400 Allied troops who died storming the beaches of Normandy, France, 75 years ago on D-Day, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said that “Jesus Christ reminds us there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
