Local Priest Dies In Plane Tragedy

Father Gostomski killed alongside Polish President

A local parish priest was killed on Saturday (April 10) in a plane crash in Russia.

Fr. Monsignor Bronislaw Gostomski of St Andrew Bobola Church in Leysfield Road was one of more than 90 passengers on board a plane that came down in thick fog in Smolensk, western Russia.

Nobody on board survived the crash, which claimed the lives of the Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, his wife and several key members of Poland's government and military establishment.

Father Gostomski had served at the W12 church for eight years. His colleague, Father Marek Reczek, told the BBC: "It is a very difficult time for our parishioners. Many of them have been coming into the church to pray. They have been crying," he said. In a BBC report, some parishoners broke down as they paid tribute to the popular priest.

The church, where a memorial mass for Fr. Gostomski will take place on Thursday (April 15), at 7pm, issued the following statement on Sunday: "Yesterday, the news went round the world of the plane crash in Smolensk, with members of the Polish government and the President of Poland on board.

"The tragedy is all the greater given that among the many important Polish people who were at the heart of this national tragedy, was also our pastor, Fr. Monsignor Bronislaw Gostomski."

The Polish Church in Shepherd's Bush won a prestigious Hammersmith Society award two years ago after its restored exterior was deemed to have made “a significant contribution to the local area”. Father Bronislaw Gostomski received the award at a prize-giving ceremony, together with the Chairman of the church council, Artur Lozinski.

Melanie Whitlock, Chairman of the Hammersmith Society, said: "It was a great shock to learn Fr Gostomski was among the victims of this terrible tragedy. The Hammersmith Society got to know him when we awarded our annual Conservation Award the year before last to the restoration of his church, St Andrej Bobola. It was a major project done with great skill and respect for a fine building, organised with great energy and success by Fr Gostomski and his parish. On behalf of the Hammersmith Society I would like to express our condolences to his parish and to the local Polish community for the loss of an inspiring and much loved priest, and our deepest sympathy at this time of shock and sadness."

Local politicians also expressed their condolences. "The terrible news about the plane crash in Russia which has taken the lives of the Polish President and senior Polish military leaders has also claimed the life of a popular and inspiring local priest. Rev Canon Bronislaw Gostomski was a good man whose simple Christian decency was an example to us all and he was the focus for many in the London Polish community," said a statement from the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Councillors.

"St Andrew Bobola's church in Leysfield Road, where he served, is one of the busiest churches in London. His tragic and unexpected death is a great loss to all of us in Hammersmith. We offer our sincere condolences to his congregation."

The Polish delegation had been on their way to Russia when the accident happened, to attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre of thousands of Poles by Soviet forces during World War II.

Shepherd's Bush MP Andy Slaughter paid tribute to Fr. Gostomski, saying: "The tragedy at Smolensk Aiport in Russia has horrified the world, and I was shocked to hear that among those killed was Father Bronoslaw Gostomski, the popular and erudite parish priest of St Andrew Bobola's Church in Leysfield Road. I have worked with him on several occasions over the last few years, and know that his dedication and love for his vocation and his parish will be impossible to replace.

"He had been travelling as part of a delegation which was part of the Polish-Russian healing process over the 70th anniversary of the massacre of more than 20,000 Polish officers by the Soviet secret police, at the infamous Katyn forest near Smolensk. It is a cruel irony that those on a mission of peace and reconciliation should fall victim to such a tragedy. The delegation included the Polish President and his wife; Dr Richard Kaczorowski, former president of the
exiled Polish government in London, as well as dozens of Polish government officials.

"Our hearts go out to families and friends of all the victims; here in Hammersmith, our thoughts are with those who were close to Fr Gostomski, and his parishioners, who have lost a a good man and a wonderful parish priest."

Meanwhile, the Polish Cultural Institute in London said there would be a week of mourning: “It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of our nation's President, Mr. Lech Kaczynski, in the company of his gracious wife and the many statespersons who have perished along with him.

“According to the appropriate protocol of State, all government institutions will commence a week long period of mourning through which we pay tribute to the exceptional individuals that we have lost. As such, all previously scheduled activities of the Polish Cultural Institute have been suspended or cancelled where delay is not possible. While this inconvenience is most regrettable we are confident that you will join with us in solidarity as we remember those lives that have passed before us.”

10 April 2010 (updated 11 April 2010)