Posted on 05/27/2006 1:17:47 AM PDT by MadIvan
Standing before a sea of umbrellas, Pope Benedict yesterday told Poles to preserve their Catholic heritage.
"Stand firm in your faith, hand it down to your children, bear witness to the grace which you have experienced so abundantly through the Holy Spirit in the course of your history," he told a rain-drenched mass in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square attended by 270,000 people.
It was the same spot where Pope John Paul II first challenged the might of communist rule in 1979.
Pope Benedict XVI hailed his Polish-born predecessor, saying through a Polish-speaking aide: "How can we not thank God today for all that was accomplished in your native land and in the whole world during the Pontificate of John Paul II?
"Before our eyes, changes occurred in entire political, economic and social systems. People in various countries regained their freedom and their sense of dignity."
On Sunday the Pope, who served in the German armed forces in the Second World War, will visit the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
EWTN just carried the Holy Father's visit to Pope John Paul's birthplace. It was very moving.
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