The magnificent crowd of nearly three million people who gathered for Pope John Paul II's Mass in Krakow last Sunday heard him deliver a message of hope for humanity and for Poland's future role in Europe. It was combined with a plea for divine mercy against evil and despair. As is typical of the Pope's genius his message was both spiritual and worldly.
During this visit Poles were enjoined to resist a modernity which excludes culture, conscience and the value of life but encouraged to join the European Union, which, he said, will only benefit from the Christian values their country can contribute to its construction.
Many recalled the huge crowd who heard him speak in June 1979, less than one year after he became Pope. His advice then was seminal for Poland and for Europe: "Do not be defeated. Do not be discouraged." It inspired the great Solidarity movement for democracy and spiritual freedom, which, although it was initially crushed and contained, went on to influence the transformation of Cold War Europe in 1989.
This visit was equally symbolic, coming ahead of the EU's forthcoming continental enlargement, which flows from those revolutionary events thirteen years ago. Pope John Paul playfully refused to accept the crowd's call on him to stay at home: "You are asking me to desert Rome!" He thereby indicated his determination not to resign because of ill-health, but rather to stay as a witness of this process in order to influence it; indeed many remarked on how rejuvenating this visit proved physically as well as for his psyche.
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It is often mistakenly assumed outside Poland that Pope John Paul represents an unreconstructed Polish Catholicism pitted against modern liberal Europe. This visit reveals a more complex picture. Krakow, where Karol Wojtyla spent most of his life as a student, priest and bishop, has for centuries been the centre of a humanist tradition of Christianity, open to the world and in dialogue with other religious traditions. The partition of Poland in the eighteenth century by the Austro-Hungarian, Prussian and Russian empires indelibly affected its history, and divided its church between the metropolitan Krakow tradition and a much more nationalist, anti-semitic and anti-protestant religious base. This fissure continues in contemporary Poland. The Pope is especially esteemed as an extraordinary personality transcending such divisions and linking them to his country's national history and destiny in Europe.
These issues were in full view during this historic visit. Pope John Paul's endorsement of Poland's EU membership pleased the government dominated - ironically - by ex-communists. They are eager to use it against the vigorous anti-EU movement led by ultra-nationalist priests and dissatisfied farmers. Most Poles favour EU membership, but have yet to be convinced the best terms are being secured in the enlargement negotiations. The Pope's visit dramatically affirms their role in Europe's mainstream.