Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Poland on Friday in colourful parades to mark the Roman Catholic Church’s Feast of the Epiphany.

The processions featured worshippers of all ages, singing carols and wearing paper crowns, as well as richly dressed actors portraying the three Magi from the Bible—Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. In the largest such event, a crowd of some 80,000 gathered in the capital Warsaw to take part in an annual march from the city’s landmark Castle Square to the central Piłsudski Square. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda released a special message to thank those taking part for keeping the tradition alive.

Source – Polskie Radio

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda have sent greetings to members of their country’s Orthodox Christian community as it prepares to celebrate the Christmas holidays.

In an address to members of “the Orthodox Church, the Greek Catholic Church and other Eastern Churches in Poland,” the Polish presidential couple said on Friday that „Christmas carries a message of peace to people of good will.” They added: „May this message be fulfilled throughout Poland and beyond our eastern border, especially in Ukraine. May the Divine Child bless everyone in need and those who are helping victims of war.” The president and the first lady also wished Orthodox Christians „true joy and hope during this special time” as well as „the strength to overcome adversities.”

Source – Polskie Radio

An exhibition about a group of Polish diplomats who saved Jews during World War II opens on Friday at the Central Library in the Scottish city of Aberdeen.

Entitled Passports for Life, the exhibition documents the work of the Ładoś Group, who issued fake passports and citizenship certificates of Latin American countries to Jews. Their bearers would then be interned and later exchanged for German prisoners of war. They could thus avoid being transported to death camps. The so-called “passport initiative” was launched by Polish diplomats in cooperation with Jewish circles in Bern, Switzerland, in 1941. The activities of the Ładoś Group have only become widely known in recent years. The exhibition in Aberdeen runs until January 31st.

Source – Polskie Radio

A man’s body has been recovered from the water at the Gdańsk shipyard near the Imperial Dock yesterday.

The man’s body was found after a group of kayakers noticed it floating in the water at around 11am on Friday. The identity of the dead man has been established. The police have currently ruled out foul play as a cause of the man’s death. A full forensic examination is now under way to establish how the man came to be in the water and died.

Source – Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will be a sunny day clouding over later with a gentle breeze and temperatures of 5 degrees centigrade (41 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day and 4 degrees overnight. Tomorrow will turn very cloudy in a moderate breeze with temperatures of 5 degrees during the day and 3 degrees overnight.

Listen to the boradcast:

Martin Caren/ol