10,000 people marched in Krakow’s White March on Sunday on the 18th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death, police said. The procession moved from Błonia to the Market Square, where a thanksgiving service for the pontificate of Karol Wojtyła was held in St. Mary’s Church.
Due to the crowds of demonstrators coming to the basilica, the mass started about 15 minutes late. According to the police, 10,000 people took part in the White March. people.
We were expecting you. In this solemn atmosphere, we come to the Marian altar to pray together with all of Cracow (…), to pass on the memory of the Pope to the young generation.
– said Fr. miter Dariusz Raś, pastor of the parish of St. Mary.
The sermon was delivered by the former pastor of this parish, Fr. miter Bronisław Fidelus, a student of Karol Wojtyła, ordained a priest by him and his collaborator during his ministry in Cracow. Fri. Fidelus remembered the White March of 1981, after the assassination attempt on the Pope. Today – as he said – “for the second time there is an attack on the saint, the great John Paul II, on his reputation and holiness.”
The holiness of the Pope was present in his daily life, it was visible in prayer in the palace of the Archbishops of Cracow, during pilgrimages and on the Ways of the Cross (…). His openness to other people, his fight for justice and freedom were great. He appreciated the value of human life. He loved his homeland very much
– said Fr. Fidelus.
He called for Sunday prayer to be a request “to the great Saint John Paul II, not to leave us, to remain with us”, but also to pray for those who slander his name.
The organizers of the Sunday White March – m. Knights of John Paul II, Rosary Congregations, Lesser Poland Solidarity – they announced the procession and announced that they wanted not only to celebrate the anniversary of the death of the Polish pope, but also to show that they defended the truth about him. During the procession, fragments of recordings of John Paul II’s homilies addressed to Poland during communism were played, and the rosary was prayed. The march was attended by politicians associated with right-wing and anti-communist activists in the People’s Republic of Poland, including NSZZ “Solidarity” chairman Piotr Duda.
Honorary patrons of the event included: friend of John Paul II, former prisoner of KL Ravensbruck Wanda Półtawska.
The procession followed the same route as the white march after the assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981: from Błonia, Aleja 3 Maja, Aleja Mickiewicza, along Karmelicka and Szewska streets to the Main Market Square.
In the evening, the participants of the march will lay flowers in front of the John Paul II monument in the courtyard of the metropolitan curia at ul. Franciszkańska 3. Then they take part in the vigil under the papal window.
On Sunday, at the same time as the White March, a second parade was held in Krakow, organized by MEP Patryk Jaki. According to police estimates, about 2.5 thousand people took part in this event. people. The route of this march led from the Church of St. Floriana, where Karol Wojtyła was pastor, and then via ul. Floriańska and the main square at ul. Franciszkańska 3, under the papal window.
Thanksgiving marches were organized on Sundays in many Polish cities for the pontificate of John Paul II. The Holy Father died on the eve of Divine Mercy on Sunday, April 2, 2005 at 9:37 p.m. in the Vatican. He turned 84 years old. He was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
“We will not deny our faith”
March in memory of Saint John Paul II in Krakow. Despite the rain, thousands of believers came to assure us that we will never renounce our faith and betray our homeland
he wrote on Twitter.
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– RELATION. After Mass in St. Florian’s Basilica, a march in defense of St. John Paul II
— Bąkiewicz: Today about 50,000 people came to the National Papal March in Warsaw. Poland was, is and will be Catholic!
— Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland on JPII: He left humanity a will not to close the door to God. Today we pass the test of the values he taught us
– Jacek Karnowski: Today they got a strong answer. We have won this battle! The fundamental question: is it only the defense of St. John Paul II, or the beginning of a new community?
mly/PAP
Source: wPolityce