Why did the Communist regime see Father Popieluszko as an “enemy of the system”?
Kacmarek: There is a point I would like to make clear first of all: Father Popieluszko was neither a social nor a political activist, but a Catholic priest faithful to the Gospel. Whatever he said, he drew upon the Church’s social doctrine, the teachings of John Paul II and of the late primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski. All totalitarian systems are based on terror and intimidation; Father Jerzy, on the contrary, released people from their fear of the system; that’s why the Communists saw him as a mortal enemy. All tyrants rule through terror, but their power begins to vacillate once their subjects are set free from this terror. On the one hand, Father Popieluszko exposed the hypocrisy of the Communist regime; on the other hand, he taught believers how to confront totalitarianism. He repeated Saint Paul’s words: “Fight evil with good.” The Communists were taken aback by this kind of reaction. In addition, the Communist regime aimed at the introduction of an anthropological vi
