Pope Francis spoke about dialogue in the family, between religions, as well as care for the environment, mutual respect and acceptance during his catechesis in St. Peter's Square. He also emphasized his gratitude to God for the opportunity to get to know the Polish people.
On the occasion of the Holy Year of Mercy, as well as to celebrate 1050 years of Christianity in our country and to thank the Holy Father for the World Youth Day, several thousand Poles came to the Eternal City together with the Speakers of the Sejm and Senate, ministers and representatives of the Church. On the occasion of the Year of Mercy, the pilgrims participated in an audience with Pope Francis.
Saturday was the anniversary of the inauguration of the pontificate of St. John Paul II. - Exactly 38 years ago, almost at this very hour, the words addressed to the people of the whole world resounded in this square: "Do not be afraid! Open wide the door to Christ," Pope Francis reminded those gathered in St. Peter's Square of the words of John Paul II.
He pointed out that the Polish Pope was a man of deep spirituality, shaped by the thousand-year legacy of Polish history and culture, passed down in the spirit of faith from generation to generation. - This heritage was for him a source of hope, power and courage with which he called upon the world to open wide the doors to Christ. This call developed into a constant proclamation of the Gospel of mercy to the world and to man, which is continued in this Jubilee Year," said Francis.
Mass was celebrated in St. Paul's Basilica by Archbishop Stanislaw Gądecki. The president of the Bishops' Conference spoke of the holiness of John Paul, who "taught how to live and lived as he taught," and of the mystery of the "pilgrim Absolute." Archbishop Gądecki said that in his much-protested condemnation of contraception, the Polish pope was not so much concerned with methods of regulating conception as with defending the essence of fertile conjugal love rooted in the creative love of God the Father. He pointed out that John Paul II drew attention to the ever-growing distance between "a small handful of rich societies and a multitude of peoples and nations living in poverty, often deprived of basic necessities and dependent - also politically - on the world powers.
He concluded his sermon with the words of Czeslaw Milosz from an ode on John Paul II's 80th birthday: "Your portrait in our home will remind us every day what one man can do and how holiness works."
On Sunday, the pilgrims participated in the Angelus prayer with Holy Father Francis, followed by Mass at St. Peter's Basilica presided over by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, former prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education.
The Speaker of the Sejm prayed at the grave of St. John Paul II
