Rome (Fides Service) - For the second year running in commemoration of the dearly loved Pontiff John Paul II who died on 2 April 2005, the Torch of Lolek, as Karol Wojtyla was called when he was a boy, will be carried from Rome to the late Pope’s home town of Krakow in Poland. Also this second edition will combine Spirituality and Sport and there will be a special stop in Venice with a torch- light procession of boats along the Canal Grande of Dragon Boats and Canoes.
The 8 lap journey will commence on Sunday 25 after a special Mass and the lighting of the Torch at the tomb of John Paul II in St Peter’s Basilica. Polish and Italian athletes will alternate along the route. These athletes members of religious and sports associations, including young sportsmen with a disability, are motivated by a desire to render homage to the Polish Pope and to thank God for the gift of his life of teaching, witness and love. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 23/3/2007; righe 13, parole 177)