The text was originally published on the website opinion.olsztyn.pl.
This Sunday, September 10, tens of thousands of pilgrims will come to Gietrzwałd for the church fair. In addition to those arriving on foot from Olsztyn and nearby towns, there will also be thousands of pilgrims from very distant places.
As every year, there will be a sector at the altar for particularly important people: ministers, deputies, senators, voivode, marshal, state services, local governments and trade union activists. With the election taking place in a few weeks, you can assume that everyone will show up reliably this time. No wonder. The temptation to show yourself to a gathering of thousands of pilgrims is enormous. All the more so because the habit of reading activists’ attendance lists has become established, so it’s worth attending!
However, this year’s treat has a unique character. For the first time, the public is getting information that Gietrzwałd is threatened with landscape destruction, a traffic nightmare and the risk of a natural disaster. It is hard to imagine that the shrine a few hundred meters from the planned monumental Lidl giant would not feel its presence.
Let’s keep in mind the dimensions of this colossus: 440 meters long, 153 meters wide, 23 meters high without ventilation systems. Several hundred thousand tons of goods will be distributed annually through the center of Gietrzwałd, as well as 150,000 tons of waste, including 3,250 tons that are considered hazardous. Hundreds of trucks loaded with goods and rubbish drive day and night through Gietrzwałd and the villages directly on the DK 16. The sanctuary’s surroundings will be dramatically and irreversibly affected.
The final decision has not yet been taken, the Voivode has withdrawn the decision on the building permit issued by the Olsztyn Starost. The starost (a strong supporter of the construction of a goods and waste distribution center in Gietrzwałd) appealed to the court. The court ordered the governor to re-examine the case. I am deeply convinced that Mr Wojewoda will consider the matter thoroughly and take into account all the circumstances and consequences of this harmful idea.
But before that happens, I think it’s worth getting the opinions of people whose opinions matter in this matter. We know that the main promoters of Lidl’s center are the mayor of Gietrzwałd and the Olsztyn Starost. The Marshal of the Voivodeship also gave a positive opinion. What do the current senators think of this? Ladies and gentlemen members? Potential future parliamentarians?
Let’s ask them on September 10 in Gietrzwałd and ask them on another occasion when they are going to ask for votes.
The Marian Shrine in Gietrzwałd is the property of the whole nation, our unique and irreplaceable heritage and national asset. It is our job to protect it and pass it on to the next generations. It is as important as Wawel, the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Ostrów Tumski in Poznań, Gdańsk Old Town, Jasna Góra Monastery with a hill and the Great Masurian Lakes. Could Lidl realize such a project a few hundred meters from the sanctuaries in Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe?
Therefore, those who can decide today what happens around the Gietrzwałd shrine should clearly define which side they are on and whether it pays to take a wrong on their conscience that cannot be corrected in the future. Let’s ask.
Source: wPolityce