Adam Mariusz Kwiatkowski, the new Polish ambassador to the Holy See, presented his credentials to Pope Francis on September 5, 2022, the Vatican press office announced the same day. According to the Polish press, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude to the Polish people for their welcome of Ukrainian refugees.
This summer, Poland's new ambassador said that one of his missions would be to show the consequences of Russia's aggression in Ukraine.
Born in 1972 in Warsaw, Adam Mariusz Kwiatkowski begins his first post as ambassador and succeeds Janusz Kotanski in Rome. This father of three graduated in administration and management from the University of Warsaw (2005) and, since 2019, is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Administration of the same university. Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic of Poland from 2015 to 2017, he then served as State Secretary in the Chancellery of the Presidency. He was recently advisor for social policies to the President of the Republic, where he was in charge of issues related to the Polish diaspora, among others.
Interviewed by Pap media on July 23, the man who was appointed Polish ambassador to the Holy See on April 11, explained that he wanted to "support efforts that will force Russia to put an end to aggression and genocidal activities" in Ukraine.
"After more than five months of military action, we can clearly see that this unjustified attack by the Russian Federation on Ukraine has negative effects on a global scale, for example those related to food security," he said.
Stressing the close ties between the Holy See and Poland, both diplomatically and religiously, he confided that he felt guided by his Polish compatriot, St. John Paul II, in his mission.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, more than five million Ukrainians have entered Polish territory to temporarily flee the war.
On several occasions, Pope Francis has thanked the Polish people for their welcome. "You were the first to support Ukraine by opening your borders, your hearts, and the doors of your homes to Ukrainians fleeing the war," he said during a general audience a few days after the Russian invasion.
After the audience with the Pope, the new ambassador said that the Pontiff expressed his admiration for the attitude of the Poles.
"The Holy Father expressed his great gratitude to all of Poland, to all our citizens. He said that he watched with admiration how the Poles opened up to the difficult situation of our neighbors, the Ukrainians who had to leave their homes and flee Ukraine," Adam Mariusz Kwiatkowski told the Polish media Stacja7.
He added: "He said he was deeply impressed that so many of them are in Poland, have found refuge here and that there are in fact no refugee camps in Poland."
Follow our coverage of the Pope and Ukraine, here.
