President calls for “Poland without illegal immigrants” at football fan pilgrimage to Catholic shrine

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Karol Nawrocki has become Poland’s first president to attend the annual pilgrimage of football fans to the country’s holiest Catholic shrine, Jasna Góra monastery in Częstochowa, where he gave a speech calling for a “Poland without illegal immigrants”.

“I’m one of you,” declared Nawrocki to the gathered fans, who chanted the president’s name and the patriotic slogan “God, honour, fatherland”. After the speech, many of them lit red flares.

During his election campaign last year, Nawrocki, a former boxer and supporter of his hometown football club Lechia Gdańsk, admitted that in his younger days he had taken part in brawls between football hooligans, calling them “noble fights”.

Saturday’s pilgrimage, which sees fans of rival clubs put aside their differences in a display of religious unity, was taking place for the 18th time. Nawrocki has attended before, including as a presidential candidate last year.

During his speech, he thanked football fans, who are often sympathetic towards the political right, for ensuring that “stadiums were not touched by propaganda and passing ideological fads” and for helping “defend this slogan that we invoke: God, honour, fatherland”.

“That is why I became president,” declared Nawrocki, who is aligned with Poland’s right-wing opposition. “We managed to win this together [at the election] on 1 June [2025], thanks in part to your courage.”

“We want Poland to be normal, Poland to be strong, Poland to be safe, our borders to be secure, and Poland to be a prosperous country without illegal immigrants,” he declared.

However, Nawrocki also said that he and the fans had come together to demonstrate “Christian values ​​that speak of love, mercy and openness to others”, and to show that “Poland has a place for everyone.

The president noted that many politicians and journalists have been “insulting the fan community for years”.

But he recalled the words of Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount, telling the gathered fans: “Love those who hate you. Bless those who persecute you, but pray also for those who seek to destroy you and who harm you.”

The pilgrimage, and football fan groups more broadly, have often been criticised by parts of the media and centrist and left-wing politicians for their associations with nationalism and violence.

On Sunday, Tomasz Trela, an MP from The Left (Lewica), which is part of Poland’s ruling coalition, criticised Nawrocki for attending a pilgrimage of “stadium thugs”.

Wirtualna Polska, a leading news website, reports that, while at Jasna Góra yesterday, Nawrocki was pictured embracing the leader of a hooligan gang who has convictions for serious violent crimes and whose home was found to contain photos of “racist and Nazi behaviour” when searched by police.

At previous pilgrimages, fans have sung chants about “hanging communists from trees”, which critics have argued is inappropriate at a Catholic shrine. Some participants have displayed white supremacist symbols, such as the Celtic cross.

In 2020, the religious authorities at Jasna Góra monastery for the first time issued rules prohibiting political speeches, as well as the promotion of racism, xenophobia and nationalism. However, right-wing political figures have continued to speak there during pilgrimages and other events.

Last year, Nawrocki’s main rival for the presidency, Rafał Trzaskowski, criticised his opponent for his appearance at the fans’ pilgrimage, saying that it was “outrageous” that he was campaigning at a Catholic shrine.

During his campaign, Nawrocki also faced media claims that he had in the past been associated with criminal elements linked to football fan groups, and even involved himself in procuring prostitutes.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed that Nawrocki had “connections with gangsters” and had been involved in “arranging girls” for guests at a luxury hotel where he worked in security.

However, Nawrocki denied the accusations and has never faced any charges for criminal activity.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Mikołaj Bujak/KPRP

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.