Prime Minister Donald Tusk has sent a Christmas message to the nation, wishing Poles a Christmas “full of love and warmth” and encouraging his compatriots to come together as a community.
In a video message posted on social media on Saturday, Tusk suggested that festive gatherings and conversations over Christmas Eve dinner were the “perfect opportunity” for Poles to “feel like a community again” following the October 15 parliamentary elections.
Tusk went on to say he was confident Poles had a “future as a great, united nation” and appealed to all to “leave politics and disputes aside for these few beautiful days.”
Source: Radio Poland, gov.pl
In a historic shift, members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) will join Western churches in celebrating Christmas on 25 December instead of 7 January.
Last February, the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC decided to move away from the Julian calendar used by the Russian Orthodox and other Eastern rite churches under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
Bishop of the Olsztyn-Gdańsk eparchy, Father Arkadiusz Trochanowski, told Radio Gdańsk the shift to the Gregorian calendar “resulted from the needs of the faithful” and was a result of discussions that “have been going on for a very long time.”
He added, „The time has come to make such a decision.”
Source: Radio Gdańsk, vaticannews.va
Polish President Andrzej Duda has vetoed a supplemental budget bill authorizing PLN 3 billion (EUR 692 million) in funding for state media in 2024.
Duda announced his decision via social media on Saturday, writing that the funding “cannot be approved due to a blatant violation of the constitution” and claiming that “state media first have to be remedied in a credible and legal way.”
According to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, last week’s decision to replace the CEOs of state media was done to “restore the impartiality” of public broadcasters and “legal order.”
Duda said Thursday that appointing the CEOs of state media was the prerogative of the National Media Council (RMN), and so the government’s measures represented a
“blatant breach of the constitution.”
He later stated he would submit his own budget “immediately after Christmas,” which would include other expenditures in the government plan, such as teacher pay raises.
Source: Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk
A Polish documentary about Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion has been shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Awards in the „documentary feature film” category.
The film “Skąd/Dokąd” or “In the Rearview” by Maciek Hamela made the shortlist of 15 documentary contenders announced last week by America’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Also on the shortlist is “Apolonia, Apolonia,” a Denmark-Poland co-production directed by Lea Glob, and Jonathan Glazer’s UK-Poland-US co-production “The Zone of Interest,” which has been shortlisted for the 2024 Oscar in the “international feature film” category.
Poland’s official entry in the international feature film category, the hand-painted animation “The Peasants” by Dorota Kobiela (DK) Welchman and Hugh Welchman, did not make the list.
Official nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on January 23. The 2024 Oscars ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on March 10.
Source: Radio Poland
And while families across Poland celebrate Wigilia this evening, children in North America and abroad will be watching Santa’s journey courtesy of a US-Canadian military tracking system.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) typically observes aerospace and maritime activity across North America and around the world to detect potential threats. Every Christmas Eve, however, NORAD uses its high-tech radars, satellites, and interceptors to provide live updates on Santa’s location.
This is the 68th year NORAD has devoted its resources to tracking Santa, with the journey officially beginning at 10:00 CET today, or 2:00 local time in Colorado.
Anyone curious about Santa’s whereabouts can log in to the official NORAD Santa Tracker at noradsanta.org or follow updates on NORAD’s official social media pages on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
Source: noradsanta.org
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy, with a chance of rain or snow overnight and strong breezes from the south and later west. Temperatures will be similar to yesterday, with a high of 2°C, or 35°F, dropping to just below freezing overnight with a low of -1°C or 31°F. Noticeably warmer weather is expected for Christmas Day, accompanied by a chance for rain later in the week.
Elizabeth Peck/pb
