The Pontiff will arrive in Kraków on 27 July and he will have a meeting with the Polish president, the state authorities and bishops.
On July 28 Pope Francis will celebrate a mass at the Black Madonna shrine of Częstochowa to mark the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland. After that, he will return to Kraków for a welcoming ceremony with participants of the World Youth Days, during which he will address pilgrims from around the world for the first time.
On July 29, the Pontiff will visit the site of the former Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz and, upon his return to Krakow, he will participate in the Way of the Cross service.
The next day, Pope Francis will visit the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in the Kraków district of Łagiewniki, have lunch with a group of young pilgrims and take part in a night vigil.
On Sunday 31 July, the last day of the event, the Pope will celebrate a mass, during which he will announce the venue of the next World Youth Days.
Religious convention continues
Meanwhile, the 10th Gniezno Convention is in its second day in the western town of Gniezno, the cradle of Polish statehood and Catholicism and Poland’s first capital.
Held under the motto “Europe of New Beginnings: The Liberating Power of Christianity”, the event has brought together over 500 church leaders, politicians, academics, representatives of various Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical communities, as well as Jews and Moslems from countries such as Ukraine, Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Switzerland and the Philippines.
Archibishop Henryk Muszyński told Polish Radio that in a year marking the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland the Convention provides a good opportunity to reflect on the meaning of baptism, “on how we Poles have benefited from the gift of baptism and what kind of testimony we give in a pluralist Europe.”
The archbishop also referred to Europe as another important topic of the debate. In his view, while we are witnessing an integration of Europe in the economy, there is a lack of unity in the spiritual sphere.
The programme of Staturday's sessions centres around the following topics: The Discovery of Marriage, Economy without Exclusion, Culture and Faith – How to Put Together a Broken Covenant?, Where is God in Contemporary Culture?, Eastern Europe 25 Years after the Collapse of the USSR, and Ukraine-Poland-Russia: Are Peace and Reconciliation Possible?.
In 1000 Gniezno was the scene of a highly important event in the history of the Polish state – a visit of the German Emperor Otto III to the tomb of St. Adalbert, Poland’s patron saint, during which he placed a coronet on the head of Polish king Bolesław (Boleslaus) the Brave.
The tradition of holding major religious and political gatherings on a European scale in Gniezno was revived in June 1997. The 2nd Gniezno Convention, which marked the millennium anniversary of St. Adalbert’s death and was part of John Paul II’s pilgrimage to Poland, was attended by the presidents of seven Eastern and Central European states: Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania and Ukraine.
In his homily, the Polish pope described St. Adalbert as a “symbol of the spiritual unity of Europe” and said: “If we want the new unity of Europe to last, it has to be a great European community of spirit!”
In later years, the Gniezno Conventions were held in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012. (mk/nh)