Apologia krzyża w wybranych homiliach Jana Pawła II
The Apologia of the Cross in Selected Homilies of John Paul II

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the various ways the Cross was defended in John Paul II’s homilies delievered in Poland on the following occasions: in Nowa Huta, in the Wawel Royal Cathedral and Zakopane. The speaker used arguments anchored in the Gospel and history. He emphasised the meaning of the Cross as a sign of God’s redemption, gift and love towards humans. The speaker evoked people from Polish history who remained faithful to the Cross and are remembered for their heroic attitude: Queen Jadwiga, brother Albert Chmielowski, Bernardyna Jabłońska and Maria Karłowska. In his homily given in Nowa Huta, the Pope signalled the idea of new evangelisation, which requires all believers to undertake persistent and courageous defence of the Cross, irrespective of time and place. The paper also discusses rhethorical aspects of the sermons, such as various types of speech deployed therein (lectures, meditations, appeals) and stylistic devices (e.g. similes, parallelisms, rhetorical questions).

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