Pope gets rapturous welcome at Polish shrine

Pope Benedict received a rapturous welcome yesterday when he visited Poland's holiest shrine to pray where his Polish-born predecessor, John Paul II, found spiritual comfort as a boy, a priest and a Pontiff.

The 79-year-old German Pope left the capital Warsaw and flew by helicopter south to Czestochowa, site of the shrine of the Black Madonna, a dark icon revered by Polish Catholics.

In what was by far the warmest reception of the trip yet, more than 300,000 people waving banners, flags and rosaries packed a hillside to welcome Pope Benedict to the shrine where Pope John Paul II often went to pray when he was living as a boy in nearby Wadowice and later as a priest, bishop and cardinal in Krakow.

Poles are still feeling the pain of the loss of Pope John Paul, who visited Czestochowa often when he returned to Poland as Pontiff. But they say they have great admiration for Pope Benedict, particularly because he was very close to the late Pope.

"We came here to show that it doesn't matter if the Pope is Polish or German. We would accept any Pope - a black, a Chinese, anyone," said Janusz Lukasik, 52, who went to the shrine with his family.

"John Paul taught us that we should treat everyone the same. Benedict has proven that we are special to him and we are thankful," Mr Lukasik said. Inside the shrine, Pope Benedict, knelt in prayer as the icon, which is only shown to the public on special occasions, was uncovered from its frame on an ornate silver altar.

Earlier yesterday in the capital Warsaw, Pope Benedict celebrated Mass for more than 300,000 people from the spot where Pope John Paul inspired his countrymen to defy communism 27 years ago and urged Poles not to let modern prosperity erode their faith.

As the Warsaw crowd huddled under umbrellas, Pope Benedict recalled that it was there in Pilsudski Square that Pope John Paul read a fiery speech that would go down in Polish history as a spark that ushered in a bloodless revolution.

At his 1979 Mass, the late Polish Pontiff quoted a prayer asking the Holy Spirit "to renew the face of the earth..." and then improvised, adding "the face of this land".

Poles saw it as a battle cry to fight oppression. Backed by Pope John Paul, the Solidarity trade union was born the following year. After a decade of social tensions that included two years of martial law, Poland in 1989 shook off communism, beginning a domino effect that spread to the rest of the Soviet bloc.

Pope Benedict, who succeeded Pope John Paul in April, 2005, spoke from the base of a massive cross 25 metres high.

He reminded them of the massive significance of the five additional words uttered by Pope John Paul in 1979 and said:

"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," he said, delivering his homily in Italian and Polish.