Catholics From Poland

"The government alone will not heal any-thing. We must do this together, for Poland will only be different, if we all truly want it to be so."

"I wanted Poland to be, right from the start, a country of solidarity, a country not guided by the rule: the weaker has to die. Therefore, we tried to protect each and every life with the same commitment. Therefore, whenever we could, we tried to show solidarity with other nations who needed assistance at a given time."

"If someone is undertaking aggressive military activities in Ukraine and Syria, if someone is bolstering his military presence near his neighbors ... then we have an unequivocal answer regarding who wants to start a new Cold War. Certainly, it is not Poland or the NATO alliance."

"The 1988 strikes discouraged the Party leadership and demonstrated its failure to find a solution to Poland’s problems. Combined with Gorbachev’s renunciation of intervention on behalf of Communism, this failure encouraged the leadership to move toward yielding its monopoly of power. On 30 November 1988, there was a televised debate between Lech Walesa and Alfred Miodowicz, the head of the official trade union federation and a member of the Politburo. This was a highly significant step as the television served as a means of controlling the dissemination of opinion. On 6 February 1989, Round Table talks between government and the technically illegal opposition began, with the Church, an institution of great prestige in Poland, playing an important mediatory role. Under an agreement, signed on 5 April 1989, reached against a background of widespread strikes, elections were held in Poland on 4 June. Only 35 per cent of the seats in the lower house, the Sejm, were awarded on the basis of the free vote, the remainder going to the Communists and their allies, but all of these seats were won by Solidarity. This expression of the public will was a dramatic blow to the old order. Communist cohesion collapsed, not least with the Communist Party being abandoned by its hitherto pliant allies. Strikes and other protests meanwhile continued. The new government was headed by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a member of Solidarity and a Catholic intellectual. He became the first non-Communist Prime Minister behind the Iron Curtain. There was, however, to be a major division between those who endorsed the ‘Round Table’ political settlement of 1989 as a way to avoid bloodshed, and those who criticised it as, allegedly, a compromise providing subsequent cover for ex-Communists to pillage the state."

"I will never agree with statements that Poles as a nation participated in the Holocaust or Poland participated in the Holocaust. It humiliates us and hurts us. In my own family, there were people murdered by the Germans, and first and foremost [to say the contrary] waters down what really happened."

"This is not why my parents’ generation for 40 years struggled to expel communist ideology from schools, so that it could not be foisted on children, could not brainwash and indoctrinate them. They did not fight so that we would now accept that another ideology, even more destructive to man, would come along, an ideology which under the clichés of respect and tolerance hides deep intolerance."

"Peace and law - two words, without which co-existence of nations, ethnic groups or those whose religions are different, is unimaginable. Peace and law - terms that are beautiful, important, but very brittle, that need to be taken care of, than need to be - without any interruptions - treated well. We, the Poles, know it perfectly, that peace cannot be taken for granted."

"I was raised in a family that has always been Catholic, for generations. That's the type of family I grew up in. This connection to the Church, to the Catholic Christian community, was always a fact, from the beginning of my life."

"Poland is stable politically. The opposition is making it impossible for parliament to work."

"I always say that as a President of my country, President of Poland, I would like to have the best relations with all our neighbors."

"The French writer, Albert Camus, once lamented that "man eventually becomes accustomed to everything". I have always believed that this is an unjustly pessimistic view of our human condition; and in recent weeks I have seen enough to convince me that Camus, on this point at least, was wrong: 30,000 East Germans abandoning home, friends, jobs, everything, to escape to a new life of opportunity but also uncertainty in the West; thousands of Soviet miners striking not for more pay, but for better supplies; the joy of Poles as they greet their first non-Communist Prime Minister in 40 years; over a million inhabitants of the Baltic states forming a human chain to protest against the forced annexation of their nations; demonstrators in Prague braving the security forces to mark the 21st anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion; or in Leipzig calling for freedom of speech. Clearly the peoples of the East have not become accustomed to their lot. Totalitarian rule has not made people less attracted by freedom, democracy and self-determination. The opposite is true. Nor has it made them incapable of exercising these values through political organization and self-expression: look at the debates in the new Congress of the People's Deputies, the activities of the popular fronts, Solidarity in Poland or the opposition parties in Hungary. The demand for pluralism and reform can now be heard in every Eastern nation."

"Lewi has the most incredible body, it is just pure muscles. It just stuns the other players in the changing room."

"He is the most professional player I have ever met. He is always there, never injured, because he focuses on these things. He always knows what is important to be in the best condition. But I was always very, very pleased with him, from the first moment [we met]."

"He is the complete striker that I often compare to – since I was myself a striker – to a phenomenon that I played against many times myself. ​Marco van Basten. At my time, Marco van Basten was the most complete forward in the world, in the late 80s and early 90s. And I think Robert Lewandowski put his stamp on the last decade like nobody else."

"Lewandowski is one of the best strikers, if not the best striker, in the world."

"Technically he was always great, now he also has that cool head. The way he scored the goals is phenomenal. For me he is the best and most complete striker in the world at the moment."

"My parents took my ambitions seriously. They took an hour each way to training. They were waiting for me, and when I wanted to go home alone, I took the bus from Warsaw to Leszno for two hours. When I was late, I had to seize an opportunity, sometimes someone took pity and took me away."

"Money is important, but I didn't get carried away because ... I remember what it was like not to have the basics. However, I am glad that I was able to fulfill my childhood dreams."

"He showed his quality again, although he does not have to prove his class to anyone. We have to see that he is at 100 per cent, and then he is enormously important to us. And that’s why the club are not letting him go."

"Sometimes you have to be there waiting for the ball and if you get it once in the 90 minutes you have to be ready. But I say: ‘I want to be part of the team, of the game, I want to move and pass and not just wait for the ball.’ That’s why I am always looking for space to get the ball and find my teammates. I can work on everything still. But one thing? Maybe to shoot from distance."

"Playing in the USA? I don't know because I don't know what does it mean for me and when. For sure, I know a lot about the MLS because a few Polish players and also German players was playing there, and they talk to me about the life but also about MLS and they make every year a step up. It means they want to be better and I don't know what does it mean exactly for me but I would say I'm very happy to be [at Bayern] and I don't think about so long future."

"How he pushed himself to become the player he is today, that’s extraordinary. He took every step he needed to be that goal machine. Every one."

"My body is my work. You have to be patient. Maybe you don’t see the difference after a few months, but after a few years you will see why you can play longer and stay on a higher level longer."

"A record is always something special for every athlete. And these 40 goals are so legendary that I still do not fully understand that I am on a par with such a legend as Gerd Müller. However, I wanted to break this record and surpass it by at least one goal. This step was my goal. But 40 goals make me proud of myself. I could not have dreamed that in one season you can score so many goals."

"I score so many goals, this means a lot. I know I will always be a little bit behind and I have to maybe work harder than those players for my country if we want to achieve something. It’s not an easy job for me, but I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid. It’s a big chance."

"If I win something, I’m very proud and very happy but I cannot get it. ... Someone made the decision like that and life goes on."

"For sure, as the captain, it’s something bigger. The expectation is higher. Playing for the national team is a responsibility."

"I cannot yet assess the significance of this achievement for my future life. Even a 40-goal moment is already something special. Until now, it was simply unthinkable for me that I would be able to reach this mark, although I always give my all until the end of the season to see what the final result will be. I was aware of the debate about whether I was worthy of surpassing the historical record of Gerd Müller or not."

"You might be surprised to find this out, but sweets were a big problem for me when I was younger. It didn't matter what it was, I couldn't walk past it without buying it. Now I've cut sweets out. It actually took me several years to get to this point. Now I don't really like sweets anymore."

"I remember exactly. When I was six years old, there was only one idol for me: Roberto Baggio! Alessandro Del Piero later became my role model in football, and I admired him. However, I was not yet able to judge exactly what characterizes his style of play, I was just too young for that."

"It's all about the balance of the team. That's the most important point, nothing else. For that reason, it's easy for me to adapt to several different styles of play. I know I have to adapt and play for the good of the team. For me, being a strong striker is not only about being a good goalscorer."

"You don’t have much time. If you think too long or too much, sometimes that is wrong. If you have one idea and know it from the first minute, do it. Shoot. I had so little space in the box. Think too much, the defender comes to block you."

"You can think: I have scored once, it’s enough,” he said. “You can lose focus, start freestyling. Or you can think I have scored once, so maybe I can score another. Is one enough, or do you want more? You need the button."

"If you see what we did in this run it is amazing, spectacular — because we won everything that we could. This is something special.... All of these awards are the prizes for something special."

"I thought that if I changed the things I did, it could help me play at a higher level for longer. I knew I could not expect immediate results. I did it because I had to try. I knew if I started at the top level a little later, I could be there for longer."

"The professional player in me came out. The button changed from off to on, and I saw the difference between playing for fun and playing to win. You have to choose whether to have fun or whether to compete."

"Everything you do before the game, the routine is also important to keep the high-level concentration. The brain gets the information that something important is coming. He asked what I do. I said: ‘I don’t know, I do a few things.’ But before the next game I was more focused. Every time I put the left boot on first."

"Before I had a lot of problems with my body language – being more a part of the game and training. My body language was the same. Sometimes you have to be more angry. For me that was never going to happen."

"The Pope teaches us that dialogue between religions is an important instrument for building peace. Our country has people of some 130 different ethnic groups, 60% Muslim. We need to cultivate dialogue and communion."

"The current situation, although difficult, is not the worst. There is a spirit of solidarity among the people."

"I have hope that people who are interested in helping the development of our communities will come forward. Besides, I hope warm connections between parishes in Eastern Ukraine and in the Toronto Eparchy will form, which will lead to permanent cooperation."

"As a historian I fear Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also Western political civilisation in its entirety."

"We want to understand democracy as an endless discussion, or a constant debate when we choose a path. (...) But when the consensus comes, (...) we work as one body."

"Europe is not old, haggard or barren. Europe is young, dynamic and vital. Our continent remains the best place in the world to live."

"Every family knows that a divorce is traumatic for everyone. Everyone in the EU, but especially the Brits themselves, would lose out economically [if Britain left the EU]."

"I can confirm that Poland will join the euro zone, and not just because all the treaties are signed, but because I consider it of strategic interest both for Poland and the European Union. But only a fool would believe that the euro could provide a guarantee that a financial crisis would never happen again."

"To defend [my vision of Europe] does not mean to lecture anyone. The British citizens will make this decision themselves and they do not need any whisperers, especially from Brussels. I understand this very well. But when I hear the EU being compared to the plans and projects of Adolf Hitler I cannot remain silent. Such absurd arguments should be completely ignored if they hadn't been formulated by one of the most influential politicians of the ruling party."

"More and more leads, more and more information, and more and more commentary in the global press all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented paedophilia scandal was co-organised by Russian intelligence services. I don't need to tell you how serious the increasingly likely possibility that Russian intelligence services co-organised this operation is for the security of the Polish state. This can only mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today."

"Mr Tusk, who has been given to using the analogies of the divorce and divorce petition, is behaving like a cuckolded husband who is taking it out on the children."

"The paradox is that 500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians. We must rely on ourselves, fully aware of our potential and with confidence that we are a global power."