The situation is difficult, because the iconographic copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa, which is traveling "From Ocean to Ocean", tached to the image on Jasna Góra, has been detained in a customs chamber on the border of the European Union in Italy.
Those who follow the pilgrimage of the Icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa "From Ocean to Ocean" through the world in defense of the civilization of life and love, certainly know that it has already traveled about 220 thousand kilometers, visiting 32 countries on five continents. This special journey has been going on since 2012. Millions of people of different nations and languages have prayed before Her, uniting on the side of the civilization of life and obtaining many divine graces. This special pilgrimage also turns the eyes of the world towards Poland, our faith and tradition, in which the Mother of God in the Częstochowa Icon is honored as the Queen of Poland.
In recent months, the Mother of God in the Częstochowa Icon has traveled through other countries in South America, visiting Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Due to the long distances, She also used air transport, always traveling under the care of Her custodian in a special aluminum box. In South America, this function is performed by Fr. Leon Juchniewicz, who has been working as a missionary in Ecuador for almost 40 years.
The organizing committee of the pilgrimage "From Ocean to Ocean" tried very hard to ensure that the Icon of the Mother of God was not treated as merchandise and sent as cargo. Therefore, She always traveled under the care of Her custodian as his additional personal luggage. So far, there have been no problems with this.
There were many such flights on the route, including across the Atlantic from Poland to the USA, from the USA to Ecuador, then to the World Youth Meeting in Panama, back to Ecuador, and recently to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and back to Ecuador. The Mother of God was treated everywhere as a special guest with great respect and dignity, solemnly welcomed at the next airports. Due to Her pilgrimage, There was always conditional customs clearance everywhere, because it was obvious that She is in transit.
Problems with returning to the European Union
According to the plan, the Our Lady in the Częstochowa Icon was to fly from Ecuador to Milan on Friday, May 30th. The welcoming and celebration ceremonies on the Italian side were ready. However, the day before arrival, on the evening of May 29th, Fr. Leon reported that the KLM airline refused to accept the Icon on board, because according to the European Union regulations, the weight of oversized luggage cannot currently exceed 35 kg.
In 2013, when the Our Lady flew from Poland to the USA, this limit was 45 kg and this is how much the specially made aluminum box containing the Icon weighed. This limit is respected almost all over the world. After two hours of very stressful efforts and discussions, the plane left Ecuador without the Icon of Our Lady, and Fr. Leon had to stay and wait for his remaining personal luggage to be returned to him and for his ticket to be rebooked.
The icon did not reach Italy and the rector of the Sacro Monte Sanctuary in Varese near Milan - Fr. Eros Monti - decided to use a printed replica of the Częstochowa Icon in the size of A3 during the planned ceremony. The situation caused all plans related to the pilgrimage through Italy to be suspended and the organizers to be very stressed.
Fr. Leon was advised that the only way to quickly transport the Icon to Europe was to send it as a cargo shipment. This was a difficult decision, especially for the custodian, who was forced to entrust the Icon of the Mother of God to strangers. The international transport company DHL undertook the task of transport, all the necessary formalities, as well as delivering the Icon to the Sacro Monte Sanctuary in Varese near Milan. They charged almost two thousand US dollars for it, which Fr. Leon did not have, so he had to borrow them, and we will have to return them to him when we find a sponsors.
The following evening - May 31st - Our Lady in the Częstochowa Icon flew from Ecuador to Europe on a DHL plane. On Sunday, June 1st at 11:18 (UTC) She landed at the Malpensa - Milan airport. Together with the Icon, all the relevant documents were sent in Polish with a professional documents prepared by a sworn translator in Spanish - the language of the country of departure.
These documents contain a statement by a court expert from 2012 that this Icon is contemporary, is not a historical monument and has no commercial value. However, it is an important object of religious worship. The second document confirms who exercises ownership custody, who painted the Icon and when, and what the pilgrimage involves. Thanks to these documents, Our Lady crossed over 32 national borders and each time she had conditional customs clearance, because it is obvious that in a given country she would only be in transit.
Our Lady of Częstochowa "arrested" by customs of European Union
The Icon has been in an Italian customs chamber for a week. DHL has still not delivered it to the Sacro Monte sanctuary in Varese. Italian customs officers are not in a hurry and generally make an impression, that they do not know what to do with such an unusual shipment. The Italian organizers of the pilgrimage are bombarded by these officials with further questions, to which clear and simple answers are contained in the attached documents. Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad will in this, and one could even say sabotage.
It is not known how the Icon is currently stored. There are concerns about whether the box with the Icon is treated with respect at all, and also about the climatic conditions in which it is located. The icon, which is made using the traditional method, is not resistant to moisture. Keeping it for a long time in a closed, unventilated box in moisture and high temperature can cause serious, irreparable damage.
After a few days, a question arose from one of the officials whether the author of this image was a famous artist. This was looking for an argument to increase the value of the Icon and impose a high customs duty. It is not easy to answer officials who are not familiar with the Christian iconographic tradition, which does not grant the iconographer copyright, emphasizing that he is only a copyist, and the authorship of the original Icon is attributed to St. Luke the Evangelist.
It is difficult to say whether this is just bureaucratic incompetence, ignorance or even hostility towards God and the Mother of God. However, the result is the "imprisonment" on the border of the European Union of Our Lady who in the Częstochowa Icon, is traveling around the world in defense of the civilization of life and love. Poles associate this situation with the imprisonment of the pilgrim Icon from Jasna Góra during the communist era, when the authorities tried with all their might to stop the journey of the Mother of God through Polish parishes.
The organizers of the pilgrimage "From Ocean to Ocean" continue their efforts to overcome all these difficulties. They trust that Our Lady will soon travel further, especially since it is currently the Jubilee Year centered on the topic "Pilgrims of Hope"
In the current situation, we appeal to all people of good will with a request to pray for those officials who, standing in the way of Our Lady, do not know what they are doing. However, she will overcome all obstacles and will certainly travel further for the protection of the civilization of life and love.
Lech Kowalewski - International Coalition "From Ocean to Ocean"