Fans of the music of the Perfect band and everyone who is up to date with information about the life of the Polish Catholic Church certainly know that Grzegorz and Rafał Markowski are unusual siblings, each of whom operates in a completely different environment. However, the rocker and the bishop remain very close and support each other.
Grzegorz Markowski’s brother is a brother to the media
In recent days, Bishop Rafał Markowski has become famous again due to his speech at the 396th Plenary Meeting of the Polish Episcopal Conference. According to reports, the priest who heads the KEP Council for Media and Social Communication then proposed the creation of a special Media Fund, which is to be based on an annual collection in parishes.
The underlying idea is that the responsibility for the Church’s media activities and its image in the media should be taken over by representatives of the main media institutions representing the Polish Episcopal Conference, i.e. the KEP Press Office, the Catholic Information Agency and the OPOKA Foundation, supported by competent experts – explained Bishop Markowski .
The bishops decided to implement the idea. Most of them are probably aware that Bishop Rafał Markowski has solid media experience. For over ten years he was the director of Radio Józef, today known as Radio Plus Warszawa. Moreover, his name always causes a stir because he is the brother of the lead singer of the rock band Perfect. As he himself admits: “if I die one day, they will say ‘Grzegorz Markowski’s brother has died’.”
The information about Rafał’s appointment initially caused uncertainty in the family
There are four Markowski brothers in total: Krzysztof, Grzegorz, Rafał and Andrzej, who grew up in Józefów near Warsaw. The Perfect frontman admitted in one of his interviews for “” that religion was very important in their family home, and the musician himself served in the church as an altar boy as a child.
However, when 14-year-old Rafał decided to tell his family that he wanted to study at the Minor Seminary in Płock, their reaction was not very favorable. The bishop mentioned this years ago in an interview for:
My brothers didn’t understand it at all and didn’t want me to leave the house. My departure was associated with emotional effort, everyone advised me against it, but I was very consistent (…) Some of my family was against my vocation to the priesthood. When my grandmother saw me in a cassock for the first time, she cried, but not from joy, but from despair – said Rafał Markowski.
But it turns out that his decision did not cause family ties to be shaken. In another interview, he admitted that because of this, a bizarre situation even occurred. – I had a problem once when, during a seminar years ago, we were extremely similar. And the rector of the seminary in Nowy Świat saw Grzegorz with a girl and thought it was me. They really could have removed me then, but everything became clear, he said.
Even though they come from two different worlds, they are still incredibly close
Rafał Markowski became a priest on June 6, 1982, when the Primate of Poland, Archbishop Józef Glemp, ordained the first new priests of the Archdiocese of Warsaw. Just over thirty years later, in 2013, Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Warsaw.
Then Grzegorz Markowski was also not delighted, but the reason was completely different. “When he became a bishop, I said: ‘Great, beautiful, great’. But I also immediately thought: ‘The boy is going to get carried away’. He is completely devoted to God, faith, but also to the institution. He has no security, he doesn’t stop, he works. “I simply admire him. I force him to go on vacation with us,” said the rocker in an interview for “”.
He was also asked whether he sometimes called his brother to criticize the Church. The Perfect singer said that he doesn’t do it because he doesn’t want to waste time, and his brother is aware of his views. He also added that Bishop Markowski was, in his opinion, a model of priesthood:
I would like to clone my Rafał, because if there were more such dedicated priests, the Polish Church would be different – he confessed.
One of the situations when we could see two brothers together was World Youth Day in 2016, when Grzegorz Markowski was one of the ambassadors of the event. His brother himself admitted that he liked performing with him in public, “because the sight of a priest and a famous rock musician who is a believer makes an impression on people.” – For some people, even three minutes of his speech about God and the strength of family mean more than my entire retreat – said Bishop Rafał Markowski.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
