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Naród Polski - June 19, 2006
POPE’S 1ST visit TO poland
Pontiff becomes "Our Holy Father" to
Poles
By Robert Strybel, Our Warsaw Correspondent
 Warsaw
- During an event-packed visit to Poland from May 25 to 28, 2006, Pope
Benedict XVI successfully shed his image as "the German-born Pontiff" and
became simply "nasz
Ojciec {wi`ty" (our Holy
Father). Even before he set foot on Polish soil, an opinion poll showed that
80% of those surveyed had no problem with the Pope's German nationality, 17%
considered it an asset and only 3% regarded it as a liability. However, the
new Pope had to negotiate other personal hurdles during this visit,
including his age (79), inborn shyness, frail health, the sheer volume of
activities crammed into the space of four days and dealing with the delicacy
of such potentially divisive issues as the Holocaust.
 To
a large extent he was successful, thanks to the aid and support of his
invisible mentor and guardian, the spirit of the late Pope John Paul II.
Some Poles, who had attended papal gatherings or watched the proceedings on
television, said they felt as if two popes were visiting their country. Pope
Benedict frequently invoked the memory of his "great predecessor," quoting
his words and vowing to continue his teachings. He also charmed his
listeners with his valiant attempts to speak Polish. In one of his
tongue-twisters, the Bavarian-born Pontiff said we should pray "for God to
turn gray" (saying "osiwia\")
instead of "o>ywia\"
(enliven) which called on God to enliven our faith. But his resolute effort
only endeared him to Poles, who realize how difficult their language is to
foreigners to pronounce. In the course of his visit, he drew thunderous
applause and roars of approval whenever he greeted congregations, said a
short prayer or began a sermon in their native Polish, before switching to
Italian, which a lector then translated into Polish.
 The
apostolic visit included a meeting with President of the Polish Republic,
Lech Kaczynski, and other dignitaries in Warsaw. It also had many of the
markings of a sentimental journey. Benedict wandered down memory lane when
he visited his predecessor's birthplace of Wadowice and toured the John Paul
II Museum set up in the Wojtyla family home. He prayed at religious sites
dear to the late Polish Pontiff's heart – Czestochowa's Jasna Gora, Kalwaria
Zebrzydowska,
the Shrine of Divine Mercy at Lagiewniki and Krakow's Wawel Cathedral - and
he also made an appearance in Poland's best-known window at No. 3
Franciszkanska Street. You see, ever since his first papal visit to Poland
in 1979, before retiring for the night, Pope John Paul II would appear at
this upstairs window of Krakow's Episcopal Residence and engage in
good-natured banter with thousands of young people cheering and serenading
him in the street below.
But Pope Benedict made it
clear at the outset that his trip was meant not only to retrace the
footsteps of his predecessor but also to keep alive the dreams and goals of
Pope John Paul II. Foremost amongst them was an idealistic and devoted
clergy and a staunchly believing nation, thus enabling Poland to be a beacon
of Catholicism in an increasingly cynical, decadent and consumption-obsessed
Europe.
 Echoing
the late Polish Ponitff's earlier admonitions, the Holy Father told
clergymen not to consider their vocations to be merely careers and said they
should be more committed to saving souls than playing politics. He urged
Poles not to become picky "cafeteria Catholics," who accept only those
elements of their faith that they find pleasant, easy and convenient. He
urged them to accept "the full truth" of what it means to be a Christian.
Like Pope John Paul II before him, Pope Benedict also held a Youth Mass on
Krakow's sprawling public meadow known as Blonia. Some 600,000 young
people enthusiastically applauded him when he called on them to build their
lives on the bedrock of Christianity, not the shifting sands of passing
pleasures and material goods.
Many of the young people
stayed up all night in a prayer vigil in the rain-soaked field, snatching
cat naps of sleep in tents and sleeping bags in anticipation of the
following day's huge morning Mass. The Mass was similar to the huge
religious gatherings Pope John Paul II had held there for his countrymen
before returning to the Vatican. The chief celebrant arrived in a white
popemobile through pulsating crowds waving flags, holding up banners,
singing and clapping to welcome the Holy Father. As before, they chanted
"Long Live the Pope” and "We love you.”
But a few new slogans had
been added. They included Italian banners declaring: "Benedetto, Dio ti ha
eletto" (Benedict, God has chosen you). In the crowds there were signs
saying "Du bist unser Papst" (You are our Pope). Among the younger set a hot
item were T-shirts with the inscription: "JPII/B16.” The two pontificates
again became one when the Holy Father, speaking on a drizzly morning to some
one million pilgrims gathered in the muddy meadow, urged Poles to "share the
treasure of your faith with other peoples of the world". That theme had been
constantly raised by the late Polish Pontiff.
On the final day of his
four-day apostolic journey to Poland Pope Benedict visited the grim former
Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where an estimated 1.5 million people
had perished, most of them Jews. The Pope silently walked through the
infamous gate bearing the cynical Nazi slogan "Arbeit macht frei" (Work will
set you free). He prayed at the Wall of Death and in the death cell of
martyr-priest St. Maksymilian Kolbe and warmly received, chatted with and
blessed 32 Auschwitz survivors. Here, he spoke in his native tongue, saying
a brief prayer in German.
In an address delivered in
Italian, the Holy Father said: "As a son of the German nation over which a
band of criminals rose to power by false promises of future greatness and
the recovery of the nation's honor, prominence and prosperity, but also
through terror and intimidation, with the result that our people were used
and abused as an instrument of their thirst for destruction and power (…) I
have come here today to implore the grace of reconciliation, first of all
from God, who alone can open and purify our hearts, and from the men and
women who suffered here."
 Most
Poles seemed to endorse the Pope's sentiments. But some, who had personally
experienced the German concentration camps and/or occupation period, notably
Jews, felt the wording suggested that German nation was blameless, and only
the top Nazi leadership was guilty of those atrocities. It is an
unquestioned historical fact that the overwhelming majority of Germans
supported Hitler and the Nazis. However the delicacy of the situation forced
Benedict to reconcile Church teaching with Polish and Jewish sensibilities,
without shouldering today's Germans with collective guilt.
All things considered, the
new Pope's first foreign apostolic visit was a huge success. He succeeded in
uplifting the spirits of the Polish people, but also recharged his own
energy from an outburst of religious fervor that he could never have hoped
for in his native land.
Choosing to visit his
predecessor's homeland may have been of strategic importance to his papacy.
The huge turnouts and enthusiastic reception have set a precedent for future
visits abroad. It was admirable for the Supreme Pontiff of 1.1 billion
Catholics to take a chance by launching his worldwide apostolate in a
country where his presence might have incited heckling or been largely
ignored. Instead, he was warmly welcomed!
Pope with clergy at
Lagiewniki near Krakow
Crowds of young people
gathered for Mass on the grassy commons in Krakow, where the ancient castle
stands on Wawel Hill in the background |
