Despite the fact that Poland is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, last weekend's visit was never going to be a walkover. How does one follow in the footsteps of the Polish Pope? John Paul II's own visits to Poland are no less than the stuff of legend. It was going to be a hard act to follow. Finally, there was the visit to Auschwitz - the whole world would be watching the German Pope.
Yet all in all, Pope Benedict XVI's visit has proved a great success with the Poles. The Pontiff was welcomed with immense warmth by vast crowds (Sunday's Mass at Cracow's Blonia Common drew close to a million pilgrims) and although few claim that Benedict has the spontaneity of John Paul, he was met with genuine joy.
It was a trip that was loaded with poignant symbolism from the start, sometimes perhaps in excess of what the Vatican might have hoped for, such as the stupendous rainbow that followed the rain at Birkenau. And back in Cracow, a memorable moment came when hundreds of thousands joined in song for a rendition of the classic hymn 'Boze cos Polske' (God Save Poland). When Cracow was occupied by the Nazis - a time when Benedict himself was obliged to serve in the Wehrmacht - such songs were banned outright on pain of death. And here, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians and members of many other nations were singing this song joyously with their German Pope. The past remains painful, but this weekend's visit has been a decidedly positive one.
|