Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - At the general audience on Wednesday 31 May, Pope Benedict XVI retraced the principal laps of his recent apostolic visit to Poland. First of all he thanked the Polish Bishops, the President and the various authorities, and all who helped to organise the visit. “Above all I want to say thank you to the Catholics and all the people of Poland whom I felt embraced me with human and spiritual warmth” the Holy Father said. The first engagement was a meeting with the clergy in Warsaw’s cathedral followed by a meeting in the Lutheran Holy Trinity Church with representatives of different Churches and Communions living in Poland: “I reaffirmed my commitment to consider the rebuilding of full and visible unity among Christians a priority in my ministry” the Pope said. A solemn Mass was celebrated in a packed central Pilsudski Square “a place which has acquired symbolic value after hosting memorable events such as Masses celebrated by John Paul II and the mass for the funeral of Cardinal Primate Stefan Wyszynski, as well as the crowded masses in the days following the death of my venerated Predecessor”.
Pope Benedict XVI then spoke about the visits to shrines which marked the life of the priest and bishop Karol Wojtyla. To religious, seminarians and representatives of Church movements gathered at Czestochowa “I re-proposed the faith as a fundamental attitude of the spirit rather than simply something intellectual or sentimental”. Visiting then the beautiful shrine of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska not far from Krakow, “I asked the Our Lady Mother of Sorrows to sustain the faith of ecclesial communities at times of difficulty and trial”. Last of all at the visit to the shrine of Divine Mercy, “was an opportunity to emphasise that only Divine Mercy illuminates the mystery of man”.
Pope Benedict XVI then recalled the “wonderful experience” at the meeting with Polish young people in Krakow: “to that vast crowd of young people I symbolically consigned the “flame of mercy” that they may be for the world heralds of Divine Love and Mercy. With them I meditated on the Gospel passage about the house built on rock”. “Stand firm in your faith! This was the task I set the sons and daughters of beloved Poland - said the Pope -, encouraging them to persevere in fidelity to Christ and to the Church so that Europe and the world will not be without their witness to the Gospel. All Christians must realise their duty to give this witness in order to prevent the third millennium from knowing again such horrors as those tragically evoked by the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Precisely in that place sadly known all over the world I wanted to stop a moment before returning to Rome. In Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and in other similar camps, Hitler ordered the extermination of more than six million Jews. At Auschwitz-Birkenau about 150,000 Poles and tens of thousands of men and women of other nationalities were put to death. To the horror of Auschwitz the only response is the Cross of Christ: Love which goes to the depths of the abyss of evil to save humanity at the root, there where human freedom may rebel against God. May humanity today not forget Auschwitz and those other "factories of death" where the Nazi regime attempted to eliminate God in order to take his place! May it not give in to racial hatred which is at the origin of the worst forms of anti-Semitism! May men and women once again recognise that God is the Father of all and he calls all of us to build together a world of justice, truth and peace!”
After greeting visitors in various languages the Pope made an appeal for East Timor: “My thoughts go now to the beloved nation of East Timor at present in the grip of tension and violence, which have caused death and destruction. As I encourage the local Church and Catholic organisations to continue, with other international organisations, to assist the homeless, I ask you all to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary that with her maternal protection she may sustain the efforts of all who are helping to restore calm in hearts and bring the country back to normality”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 1/6/2006, righe 40, parole 709)
