{"id":273516,"date":"2022-08-07T13:09:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T18:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=273516"},"modified":"2022-08-08T15:39:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T20:39:00","slug":"polish-priest-ministry-pregnant-women-single-mothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/polish-priest-ministry-pregnant-women-single-mothers\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish priest runs ministry to help pregnant women and single mothers"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Poland is one of the most pro-life countries in Europe, with abortion permitted only in cases where a mother’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is a result of rape. Yet one priest is doing all he can to help women choose life, providing them with shelter, food, legal help, and more.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Tomasz Kancelarczyk spoke to the New York Times<\/a> about his experiences helping Polish women navigate unexpected pregnancies and single motherhood. \u201cSometimes I am overwhelmed by the number of these cases,\u201d Kancelarczyk said while visiting his Little Feet Shelter. \u201cThere should be 200 or 300 houses like this in Poland. There is a vacuum.\u201d<\/p>\n

He agreed with the New York Times that women are still seeking abortions, despite the ban \u2014 but Kancelarczyk’s help providing food and shelter has saved, by his estimates, 40 preborn children each year.<\/p>\n

One woman, named Beata, was pregnant and scared. Her family and the father of her baby had all abandoned her, and she couldn’t find a job; due to her pregnancy, she was seen as unemployable. \u201cThe state completely abandons single mothers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Then Father Kancelarczyk found her. \u201cOne day I had nothing,\u201d Beata said. \u201cThe next day he shows up with all these things: furniture, clothes, diapers. I could even choose the color of my stroller.\u201d Now, nine years later, she is an accountant, and her son, Michal, is thriving.<\/p>\n

But Kancelarczyk doesn’t just reach out to women; he reaches out to the fathers as well once he learns they are planning to abandon their pregnant girlfriends. \u201cIf men behaved decently, women would not get abortions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Another woman helped by Father Kancelarczyk, Monika Niklas, had been considering abortion after finding out her preborn child had Down syndrome. I thought my world was crumbling down,\u201d she said. But then Kancelarczyk played the sound of a preborn child’s heartbeat during Mass, which Niklas attended. When she spoke to him, he immediately offered his support.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was so moving,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter the Mass, we went to talk to him, and told him about our situation.” Now, Niklas cares for her son, Krzys, full-time, and counsels other women who have received prenatal disability diagnoses. \u201cI never just tell them, \u2018It will be all right,\u2019 because it will be hard,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if you accept that your life will be different from what you had envisaged, you can be very happy… We have these ideas about what our children will be \u2014 a lawyer, a doctor, an astronaut. Krzys taught me about love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kasia was 23 when she found herself pregnant while grappling with an abusive relationship. An abortion would have been easy, even with the ban in Poland. \u201cIt is not difficult,\u201d she said, explaining that a friend had referred her to an abortion facility just across the border in Germany. \u201cIt is a matter of getting a phone number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police refused to help as her boyfriend beat her, and her mother kicked her out of her house. But when she thought she was having a miscarriage, her perspective changed \u2014 and Father Kancelarczyk, again, was there to help. Kasia was given a free place to live in his shelter, as well as a lawyer who successfully took her ex-boyfriend to court. \u201cI feel safe now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Though women continue to seek abortions, Father Kancelarczyk still supports Poland’s protections for preborn children, and urges the rest of the world to choose life over death.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne cannot demand one justice while neglecting another justice that does not exist. There is no justice towards the unborn in Ukraine and in Russia… in Europe and in the world,\u201d he said earlier this year<\/a> during a pro-life pilgrimage to the shrine of the Black Madonna of Cz\u0119stochowa. \u201c[When] we stop feeling the value of life, it will be our war and our death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poland is one of the most pro-life countries in Europe, with abortion permitted only in cases where a mother’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is a result of rape. Yet one priest is doing all he can to help women choose life, providing them with shelter, food, legal help, and more. The Rev. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":254496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,5,3473],"tags":[19,3833,12042,298,4881,18466],"yoast_head":"\nPolish priest runs ministry to help pregnant women and single mothers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Rev. 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