For Francis, Jesus is the “Lord of risk. not the Lord of comfort, security and ease”.
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Pope Francis gives the thumbs up as he arrives with World Youth Day pilgrims to a July 30 prayer vigil at the Field of Mercy in Krakow, Poland.
Embedded in a gray memorial stone, a story below the altar where Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Saturday in a shrine dedicated to St. John Paul II, is a glass bubble filled with blood drawn from the Polish pontiff shortly before his death in 2005.
Pope Francis was speaking on the final day of his official five-day visit to Poland which included a trip to the concentration camp, Auschwitz.
“May the Virgin Mary help us to spend ourselves completely for the good of the faithful entrusted to us, and to show concern for one another as true brothers and sisters in the communion of the Church, our holy Mother”.
Francis’ five-day trip to Poland has taken place in the shadow of the Polish pontiff, who has cult-like status in Poland for his role in inspiring his native country to stand up to communist rule in the 1980s.
The figure of this woman, which popular tradition holds was a prostitute, is climbing in esteem with Pope Francis, who sees her as a compassionate, enthusiastic evangelizer.
After listening to their experiences, Pope Francis addressed the youths, calling on them first to not be absorbed by their cellphones and computers and to think about those, like Mittri, who live through violence and war daily.
The faithful had camped out overnight after an evening of entertainment and prayer with the pope there that drew 1.6 million people, according World Youth Day organizers.
“The Pope coined a new term called “sofa happiness”, which little by little, without even realising it, makes us drift off, leaving us dopey and distracted, while others – perhaps the craftiest but not the best people – decide our future for us”.
Numerous devotions relating to the feast of Divine Mercy, established on the first Sunday of Easter by St. John Paul II, were inspired by her writings.
Citing torture and overcrowded prisons, the pope said, “We say, yes, there we saw the cruelty of 70 years ago, how people died being shot or hanged or with gas”.
Another message that Francis countered head-on was the world of computer screens and video games, which he says are contributing to a “paralysis” among young people.
The 79-year-old Francis has had an unrelenting schedule since he arrived in Poland on Wednesday for World Youth Day, a dayslong global Catholic gathering. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the girl received two prosthetic legs thanks to a donation by Pope Francis.
The Mass, which began 30 minutes earlier than planned because of the pope’s early arrival, followed his morning visit to the tomb of St. Faustina Kowalska at the nearby Divine Mercy basilica in Krakow’s Lagiewniki suburb. During Mass, the pope said that Jesus wanted his church “to be a church on the move, a church that goes out into the world”.
Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims, reminding them they are not called to “vegetate” in life but to leave a mark in the world.
John Paul II, a former archbishop in Krakow before he became pope, used to chat and sing with crowds in Polish from that window. The lower church houses the relics of John Paul, while his body is entombed inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
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Before he led the mass to celebrate the 1,050th anniversary of the baptism of Poland, the Pope prayed before Poland’s holiest icon – the Black Madonna of Jasna Góra.
