This year the March for Life in Krakow has gathered over 2 500 participants. The event took place last Sunday and it was the 6th March for Life and Family in Krakow and one of 150 such marches going through the streets of Polish cities and towns.
The slogan of this year’s march was “Independent [Poland] for Life!” Poland is celebrating the centenary of its independence in 2018, hence the slogan referred to the anniversary.
Wesprzyj nas już teraz!
One of particularly visible groups in Krakow were large families. Joanna, a mother of five, said: “Today’s march and those thousands of people participating in it show one thing: there is a great spirit in our nation! The Polish are pro-life!”
But not only large families went out to demonstrate for life and family. There were also scouts, nuns, grandfathers and grandmothers, students, representatives of Catholic, conservative, patriotic and national organizations and groups. However it’s only a fraction if we take into account that such marches have already taken place in many other places in Poland. Compared to pro-abortion “black protests” which usually attract a great deal of attention from the media but a relatively small group of protesters the March for Life and Family with its thousands of participants all over the country and 150 cities and towns looks really impressive.
A week before, on June 10th for example such marches took place in 70 cities and towns, including Warsaw, Gdansk, Kielce, Zielona Gora, Lublin. Just the day before, on Saturday, there was a homosexual parade, the annual “Equality Parade”, in Warsaw. Of course the media contrasted these two demonstrations. But one thing is worth pointing out: the Equality Parade went through one city only – the capital of Poland, the Marches for Life were all over the country and that was not the end – as different cities continue organizing marches as we could see last Sunday in Krakow.
The March for Life and Family is organized and coordinated by the Center for the Advancement of Initiatives for Life and Family (CAILF). The first march was organized in 2006. This year the march both refers to the centenary of Polish Independence (Poland regained its independence on November 11th, 1918 after 123 years of captivity) and marks the 40th anniversary of electing Karol Wojtyła to the papacy. The slogan for all the Marches this year is “Poland Strong Through Family”.
The participants of the March for Life and Family keep demonstrating in various places in Poland to pay homage to their ancestors “for preserving faith, life dignity, freedom, mutual love and responsibility” – said Paweł Kwaśniak, the president of CAILF. But at the same time the marchers want to express their expectations of banning eugenic abortions by passing the civic bill “Halt abortion”, which was supported by 830 000 Polish citizens and submitted to the Sejm last autumn. Polish pro-lifers consider it a good way of marking the centenary of Polish Independence. Paweł Kwaśniak also mentions such important issues as withdrawing from the anti-violence convention and opposition to attempts to equate same-sex relations with marriage.
New cities and towns continue joining the initiative and according to Paweł Kwaśniak there should be altogether 160 of them. The initiative is necessary as such events as the Equality Parade show that there is a strong pressure from abroad to change Poland into one of the countries in favor of deviations. “Our responsibility is to stop that wave” – added Paweł Kwaśniak. “We want a spark to come forth from Poland which will start turning away this dangerous trend in other countries of Europe and the world.”
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