Joanna Kolaczkowska’s moving farewell. Priest’s speech squeezes out tears

Much-loved cabaret artist passed away

Joanna Kołaczkowska, a mainstay of the Hrabi cabaret, died on 17 July after a serious illness with cancer. She was 59 years old. Her untimely death was a huge blow to her loved ones, as well as to the artistic community and the audience who had held her in high regard over the years.

See also: Joanna Kołaczkowska passed away. Friends bid farewell to the artist

The funeral of Joanna Kołaczkowska filled the church to the brim

The funeral service began on 28 July at 11 a.m. Hundreds of people gathered in the church – family, close friends, as well as numerous celebrities and fans who had come to pay their last respects to her. While she was still alive, the artist had already taken care of how her farewell would look – she asked that instead of flowers and wreaths, support a foundation of her choice.

Last farewell to Joanna Kolaczkowska

At the beginning of the sermon, the clergyman recalled that Kołaczkowska wanted a humble, hopeful farewell.

She wanted the funeral not to be pompous. We all have difficult feelings, but we come here full of hope that Aśka’s life is not over, it has just begun,” he said.

Later in his homily he emphasised how fragile human life is, but also how much light remains after a person.

It is difficult to know how to live. (…) We are so fragile, we are a mixture of light and shadow. Eventually, however, at such moments, everything filters out and the light itself remains. For this light we want to thank God. Thanks to this light, we experience that life, although so difficult, is also phenomenally beautiful,” he added.

Mention of her stage mission

The priest noted how many people came to say goodbye to the artist, and stressed that the greatest fruit of her life was love.

If here are so many people connected with Joanna, it seems that this abundant fruit of her life and stage activity is love. It is love that is, in the deepest sense, the harvest of Joan’s life and it reveals the value of this seed that has died,” he said.

He also alluded to the fact that her performances carried a deeper meaning:

You can see so clearly that it was not just about a moment of entertainment, laughter and humour. (…) But her life activates something more in us, some truth about the human condition, and in the end, by laughing, we agreed, in such an anaesthetised somewhat way, to meet the truth about ourselves, which is sometimes difficult.