Catholic Teenage Boy Holds Up Crucifix In Defiance Of Polish LGBT March

Since a photo of the young boy holding up a crucifix at the gay pride parade went viral, Jakub has been heralded as a hero by priests and others around the world.

Here's a video on the background to the boy's courageous deed with footage of his defiant act:

Rebel Priest has more details:

A 15-year-old Polish boy is being hailed as a Catholic “hero” after daring to block an LGBT pride march with a raised crucifix and rosary in his hand.

 

Jakub Baryła, who describes himself as “Catholic, traditionalist, conservative and patriotic” on Twitter, has become a social media sensation after standing in the path of a 1000-strong LGBT equality march in the city of Płock on Saturday.

 

Baryła, who is a councillor at Płock Youth Council, said that he decided to block the Equality March with a crucifix after he was inspired by “a similar gesture by Fr. Ignacy Skorupko during the Warsaw battle with the Bolsheviks in 1920.”

 

Father Skorupko was a Polish army chaplain who was killed on Aug. 14 1920, at the battle of Ossów during the Polish counter-attack. Standing with soldiers leading a charge on the front lines, the priest was holding a cross to encourage Polish soldiers.

Baryła says he initially gave up this idea “because of social consequences. I was afraid of how people would react,” he told the conservative media website wPolityce.pl.

 

However, he changed his mind and decided to act when he saw a blasphemous icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa with a rainbow halo at the Płock LGBT parade:

 

I asked for a cross from a priest from a Płock parish. The priest was afraid of atheists profaning the Holy Cross, but he gave me a crucifix. I wanted as many people as possible to see my gesture. I wanted to make them reflect and discuss. First, I walked with a cross in my hand in front of the police cordon protecting the Equality March.

 

Later I sat on the pavement and prayed in Latin with the words Salve Regina. I directed my prayer to the Mother of God, the ideal of purity. Policemen came to me and asked me to get out of the way. I said I couldn’t do it because the participants of the march are destroying my Catholic faith and profaning the Polish flag by placing a rainbow on it.

Riot police in body armour bodily lifted Baryła after he refused to get out of the path of the marchers.

 

“I didn’t think about fear. I was focused on the cross I was holding. I am Catholic, so I focused on God who gives me strength. I have the impression that God was directing me,” he said, adding that the police behaved “impeccably.”

 

Baryła is being praised around the world for his courage. “Thank you Jakub Baryła for your courageous witness to Christ before armed police and an LGBT ‘pride’ march,” English writer and Catholic deacon Nick Donnelly tweeted.

LifeSiteNews gave more insight:

A picture of a 15-year-old boy standing alone with his crucifix and rosary held high as police in riot gear and LGBT protesters march toward him has gone viral.

The photo of brave schoolboy Jakub Baryła — standing in the middle of a street as rainbow-flag waving protesters march toward him with government police leading the way — is an awesome visual metaphor, perfectly depicting the very real threat of weaponized, politicized LGBT ideology against the children of the entire world.

This picture is worth more than 1,000 words. 

It is an echo of the iconic 1989 picture of a lone man standing against approaching tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The Chinese communist government had called in heavy artillery in order to suppress a student-led demonstration calling for democracy, free speech, and freedom of the press in China.

It’s also an echo of the 1957 photograph in which a courageous young African-American student attempted to enter a newly desegregated Little Rock, Arkansas high school while surrounded by a mob of white racists spewing hate at her. As the crowd yelled, “Lynch her!” and “Go home, n-----!,” young Elizabeth Eckford walked alone.

Baryła stood his ground as the phalanx of heavily armed police bore down upon him. In the end, he was physically removed by police while still holding high his Crucifix and Rosary.

The drama occurred during an “Equality March” in Płock, Poland. 

The 15-year-old explained afterward that he was inspired by a similar gesture made by Fr. Ignacy Skorupko during the 1920 Warsaw battle with the Bolsheviks.

He later wrote on Twitter that he held the cross to oppose the "bad deeds that are promoting homosexuality."

"Jesus and the cross stood against evil and sins. Our holy faith commands us to counteract evil deeds. I also tried to do it. Saying that I was going against people is harmful, I was going against the bad deeds that are promoting homosexuality," he wrote.

Church Militant also commented:

A 15-year-old Polish boy is being hailed as a Catholic "hero" after daring to block an LGBT pride march with a raised crucifix and Rosary in his hand.

Jakub Baryła, who describes himself as "Catholic, traditionalist, conservative and patriotic" on Twitter, has become a social media sensation after standing in the path of a 1,000-strong LGBT equality march in the city of Płock on Saturday.

Baryła, who is a councilor at Płock Youth Council, said that he decided to block the march with a crucifix after he was inspired by "a similar gesture by Fr. Ignacy Skorupko during the Warsaw battle with the Bolsheviks in 1920."

Father Skorupko was a Polish army chaplain who was killed on Aug. 14, 1920, at the Battle of Ossów during the Polish counter-attack. Standing with soldiers leading a charge on the front lines, the priest was holding a cross to encourage Polish soldiers.

Baryła says he initially gave up this idea "because of social consequences. I was afraid of how people would react," he told the conservative media website wPolityce.pl.

However, he changed his mind and decided to act when he saw a blasphemous icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa with a rainbow halo at the Płock LGBT parade:

I asked for a cross from a priest from a Płock parish. The priest was afraid of atheists profaning the Holy Cross, but he gave me a crucifix. I wanted as many people as possible to see my gesture. I wanted to make them reflect and discuss. First, I walked with a cross in my hand in front of the police cordon protecting the Equality March.

Later I sat on the pavement and prayed in Latin with the words Salve Regina. I directed my prayer to the Mother of God, the ideal of purity. Policemen came to me and asked me to get out of the way. I said I couldn't do it because the participants of the march are destroying my Catholic faith and profaning the Polish flag by placing a rainbow on it.

Riot police in body armor bodily lifted Baryła after he refused to get out of the path of the marchers.

"I didn't think about fear. I was focused on the cross I was holding. I am Catholic, so I focused on God who gives me strength. I have the impression that God was directing me," he said, adding that the police behaved "impeccably."

Baryła is being praised around the world for his courage.