Polish president renews call for papal visit as pilgrims mark Marian anniversary

Poland’s president has renewed his call for Pope Leo XIV to visit the country in 2027, telling pilgrims at a major Marian shrine that the pontiff’s presence would give added meaning to Catholic commemorations that year.

The Marian shrine in Gietrzwałd, northeastern Poland, is a major pilgrimage site that Catholics hope Pope Leo will visit in 2027.

Photo: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk

Several thousand pilgrims gathered last weekend in Gietrzwałd, a village in Poland’s northeastern Warmia region, to mark the 148th anniversary of Vatican-recognised Marian apparitions there, state news agency PAP reported.

In a letter read during the ceremonies, President Karol Nawrocki recalled extending an invitation to the pope during a recent meeting at the Vatican.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki and Pope Leo meet at the Vatican on September 5, 2025. Photo: EPA/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT

“I trust that His Holiness will visit our country at this time, giving special significance to the 150th anniversary celebrations,” Nawrocki wrote.

Believers say that between June and September 1877, two local girls reported more than 160 visions of the Virgin Mary, who spoke to them in Polish at a time when the region was part of Prussian.

Nawrocki said the apparitions “provided encouragement and consolation” to Poles living under foreign rule, strengthening their faith and patriotism “despite the pressures of Germanization and Russification.”

The president met Pope Leo on September 5, when he presented him with a painting of Our Lady of Gietrzwałd as a symbolic gesture of Poland’s hopes for the 2027 visit.

Photo: PAP/EPA/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT

Caption: Thousands of faithful in procession to mark the 148th anniversary of the Vatican-recognised Marian apparitions in Gietrzwałd on Sunday. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk

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Source: IAR, PAP