From the Eucharistic Crusade to the Eucharistic Movement of the Young in Poland

Abstract

The Eucharistic Crusade was an energetic religious movement that assembled 3 million children all over the world before the Second World War. In Poland work on formation of children lasted without breaks from 1925 to the outbreak of the war, and 4 years after it was ended. In 1987 a revival of the Crusade began; its name was changed to the Eucharistic Movement of the Young (ERM). Only in 1998 the movement was included into the All-Poland Council of Catholic Movements. The aim of the article is to present the process of reactivation of the movement as reflected in the archival materials kept in the front office of the ERM in Poznań. A great role in the reactivation of the movement was played by Sister Jadwiga Batogowska SJK, who was responsible for the ERM on behalf of the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus. After the 16 years of Sister Batogowska’s work the communities of the movement numbered over 11,000 participants coming from 27 dioceses. From the surviving correspondence between Sister Batogowska and the Church authorities it is not clear why the process of recognizing the ERM as a Catholic organization was so long, and hence further research in this issue is necessary.