Pray for Poland

As I'm sure many of you have heard by now, Poland's President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and many other key military and civilian leaders were killed when the presidential plane crashed this morning. Here is a list of the other leaders that were killed:

Ryszard Kaczorowski -- last president of the anti-Communist government-in-exile in London, 1989-90. The government-in-exile was set up after the prewar Warsaw government was forced to flee the Nazis in 1939.

Aleksander Szczyglo -- head of the National Security Office and former defense minister

Pawel Wypych -- presidential aide

Mariusz Handzlik -- presidential aide

Jerzy Szmajdzinski -- deputy parliament speaker and former defense minister

Andrzej Kremer -- Deputy Foreign Minister

Gen. Franciszek Gagor -- head of the army chief of staff

Andrzej Przewoznik -- minister in charge of WWII memorials

Slawomir Skrzypek -- head of the National Bank of Poland

Janusz Kurtyka -- head of the National Remembrance Institute, a state body that investigates communist-era crimes

Przemyslaw Gosiewski -- lawmaker

Zbigniew Wassermann -- lawmaker

Grzegorz Dolniak -- lawmaker

Janusz Kochanowski -- civil rights commissioner

Bishop Tadeusz Ploski -- army chaplain



President Kaczynski and his wife, Maria


My deepest condolences go out to the victim's families, the Polish military and government, and the Polish people. This is an international tragedy and the world mourns with Poland. Please pray for the country of Poland and its people that they may be comforted during this time of sorrow.



Mourners gather in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland to pay tribute to the late President Kaczynski and his wife, Maria.


"The world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it."- Helen Keller

-SGS