Pope Francis will not deliver address at Auschwitz
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
27.06.2016 15:39
Pope Francis has said that he will not deliver an address during his visit to the site of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz on 29 July.
Photo: Flickr.com/Adam Tas
Talking to reporters, he said that he wanted to go to that “place of horror” with a minimal entourage. “May the Lord give me the grace of crying”, the pope added.
Auschwitz was part of the itinerary of Polish-born Pope John Paul II’s first pilgrimage to his homeland, on 7 June 1979, and of the pilgrimage of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 June 2006. Both them delivered homilies at the site, in southern Poland.
Pope Francis arrives in the southern Polish city of Kraków, the venue of the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Days, on 27 July. The day’s programme includes a meeting with the Polish president, the state authorities and bishops.
The next day the pontiff travels to the southern Black Madonna shrine of Częstochowa to celebrate a mass marking the 1,050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland.
After that he will return to Kraków for a welcoming ceremony for World Youth Days, during which he will address pilgrims from around the world for the first time.
On July 29, after a visit to Auschwitz, Pope Francis will participate in a Way of the Cross service.
The next day, he 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.
Finally, on Sunday, 31 July, the pope will celebrate a mass, during which he will announce the venue of the next World Youth Days. (mk/pk)