Popieluszko: Freedom Is Within Us (TV series)

Popieluszko: Freedom Is Within Us (Polish: Popiełuszko. Wolność jest w nas) is a Polish television series directed by Rafał Wieczyński, produced between 2009 and 2013.

The four-part series, produced using material from the 2009 feature film of the same title, depicts the life of Solidarity chaplain Father Jerzy Popiełuszko. The series includes new sequences that more fully depict the stages of the protagonist's life and his family and social relationships, including his family home in Okopy, his time in the army, his pastoral work among medical students and nurses, and the situation at the presbytery of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Warsaw. The methods used by Security Service officers to investigate people are shown in greater detail than in the cinema version. The scenes in which Cardinal Józef Glemp took part convey the tension of the period preceding the introduction of martial law in the People's Republic of Poland in 1981. The viewer also learns where Father Popiełuszko got his dog and why it was called Tajny (Secret).^[1]

In the 1950s, Stalinist authorities in Podlachia fought against cursed soldiers and spread communist propaganda. The Popiełuszko family found support in Catholicism. At the end of the 1960s, young Jerzy Popiełuszko was sent to a military unit for clerics, where he refused to remove his rosary and was harassed. He became the spiritual leader of the clerics, and these experiences took a toll on his health. In August 1980, during the workers' strikes, Father Popiełuszko accidentally ends up at the Warsaw Steelworks, where he supports the emerging Solidarity movement. After martial law is imposed on 13 December 1981, the union members are interned.^[1]

Father Popiełuszko tries to fight the feeling of hatred within himself. He organises aid for workers and their families, attends court hearings, which attracts the attention of Security Service officers. He notices that he is being followed, but does not stop getting involved in social issues. He works among students at the Medical Academy. He witnesses the pacification of the Warsaw demonstration on 3 May 1982. He gives vent to his feelings in a homily during a ‘mass for the homeland’. The authorities respond to the recognition of the faithful by intervening with the priest's superiors. The priest is intimidated – an explosive device is thrown at him. A church security service is spontaneously organised to watch over the services in the parish in Żoliborz. The faithful and delegations from all over Poland come to the "Mass for the Homeland."^[1]

Participants in the "Mass for the Homeland" do not respond to provocations. Father Popiełuszko receives a dog, which he names Tajny (Secret). After the murder of Grzegorz Przemyk, he calls on the hierarchy to demand justice. He organises a funeral attended by 60,000 people. Those gathered at the ceremony do not respond to provocations. The priest is invited to various places outside Warsaw. He is forced to appear before the prosecutor's office. The Security Service plants weapons and compromising materials in the priest's apartment. Father Popiełuszko is arrested. The regime's media begins a smear campaign against him. After the intervention of the episcopate, he is released, but receives a reprimand from Primate Józef Glemp. Alone, he leaves for Podhale.^[1]

In the Tatra Mountains, Father Popiełuszko meets with a bishop, who conveys words of support from Pope John Paul II. He visits his parents. Despite threats, the priest organises a nationwide pilgrimage of working people to Jasna Góra. However, he is not allowed to address the gathering. An unsuccessful attempt is made on his life. He leads a public prayer for the last time in Bydgoszcz. On his way back, he is kidnapped and murdered. In response to the death of the Solidarity chaplain, many Poles receive the sacraments. Thousands of faithful come to the capital for the funeral. Pope John Paul II prays at the grave of the murdered priest.^[1]

The series featured among others:

• Adam Woronowicz as Jerzy Popiełuszko
• Marek Frąckowiak as Father Teofil Bogucki
• Zbigniew Zamachowski as Ireneusz
• Radosław Pazura as Piotr
• Joanna Szczepkowska as Roma Parandowska-Szczepkowska
• Maja Komorowska as Maja
• Marta Lipińska as Janina
• Władysław Kowalski as professor of physics
• Leon Łochowski as Lucjan
• Jan Englert as professor
• Krzysztof Kolberger as Father Chancellor
• Kazimierz Kaczor as Łaniecki
• Martyna Peszko as Marysia
• Kazimierz Borowiec as Władysław Popiełuszko, father of Father Jerzy
• Artur Balczyński as Władysław Popiełuszko, father of Alfons (Father Jerzy during youth)
• Alina Chechelska as Marianna Popiełuszko, mother of Father Jerzy
• Krzysztof Franieczek as Father Jerzy's brother
• Beata Fido as Sister Krystyna
• Cezary Rybiński as Mieczysław
• Wojciech Solarz as Florian
• Piotr Ligienza as Witek
• Marek Sawicki as Zygmunt
• Klaudia Halejcio as Kaśka
• Daniel Daszkiewicz as Tomek
• Sławomir Zapała as military soldier
• Robert Rogalski as Father Kazimierz Jancarz
• Jacek Rozenek as Grzegorz Piotrowski
• Piotr Duda jako Waldemar Chmielewski
• Sebastian Domagała jako Leszek Pękala
• Marcin Klejno as Alfons
• Joanna Jeżewska as Barbara Sadowska, mother of Grzegorz Przemyk
• Antoni Królikowski as Grzegorz Przemyk
• Mateusz Grydlik as Franek
• Jacek Pasternak as kolega Grzegorza Przemyka
• Kazimierz Kiepke as Lech Wałęsa
• Anna Gzyra as (medicine student) participant of the Holy Mass celebrated by Father Jerzy
• Jacek Mikołajczak as Father Jerzy Osiński
• Michał Rolnicki as Hubert
• Tomasz Marzecki as a voiceover in Radio Free Europe
• Jan Kozaczuk as vicar
• Magdalena Kacprzak as painter Dorota
• Michał Szewczyk as Zbigniew Herbert
• Marek Richter as Waldemar Chrostowski
• Adam Siemion as prisoner-burglar
• Robert Czebotar as agent
• Piotr Kazimierski as Security Service officer
• Jan Piechociński as Security Service general
• Aleksander Mikołajczak as Georg Hussler from German Caritas
• Arkadiusz Bazak as archibishop Bronisław Dąbrowski
• Artur Janusiak as agent
• Józef Glemp as himself, primate from 1981 to 2009
• Agata Piotrowska as a prosecutor
• Ryszard Bacciarelli as bishop Zbigniew Kraszewski
• Stanisław Banasiuk as minister Adam Łopatka

The film was shot in the following locations:^[1]

• Suchowola, Bartoszyce, Warsaw (St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście Street, Bankowy Square, Zelazna Street, Silesian-Dąbrowski Bridge, Marshal Józef Piłsudski Square, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Primate's Palace, Old Town, Higher Metropolitan Seminary, District Court, police station on Jełkowa Street, etc.) Józef Piłsudski Square, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Primate's Palace, Old Town, Metropolitan Higher Seminary, District Court, police station on Jezuicka Street, Warsaw Steelworks, Smocza Street), road near Radzymin, Krakow (St. Maximilian Kolbe Church), Katowice (railway station), Bukowina Tatrzańska, Głodówka Resort, Morskie Oko, Częstochowa (Jasna Góra), Bytom (Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross), Gdańsk (St. Brigid's Basilica), Bydgoszcz (Church of the Holy Polish Martyr Brothers, Fordon Bridge), dam on the Vistula River in Włocławek.

• Popiełuszko. Wolność jest w nas at Filmweb
• Popiełuszko. Wolność jest w nas at filmpolski.pl