The Polish President Andrzej Duda has participated in the liturgy celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome yesterday afternoon together with his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda, his daughter Kinga, and dozens of Polish faithful. The Mass was presided over by Mgr. Zygmut Zimowski and concelebrated by about thirty priests. Among the intentions at Mass, the celebrant stressed the importance of Christian values and the need for “a moral and spiritual renewal” of the entire Polish nation. Mgr. Zimowski also recalled the celebration of National Independence Day on 11 November in Poland, a feast which was established after gaining independence from the Communist regime in 1989 to mark the end of the Great War and the rebirth of the Polish State after 124 years of domination by Russia, Austria and Prussia. President Duda, after being received in audience by Pope Francis this morning, went on to meet with the Vatican Secretary of State Card. Pietro Parolin. Discussion touched on the upcoming WYD2016 in Krakow and the Ukrainian issue. Poland, alongside other Eastern European countries, is concerned by Putin’s foreign policy and calls for a greater presence of NATO forces on the EU’s eastern borders. A NATO summit will take place in Warsaw in July 2016, which will be a significant test for the recently elected conservative government.