Francis said Jesus wants the church “to be a church on the move, a church that goes out into the world”, as he gave his homily in a spanking new monumental church dedicated to John Paul on the outskirts of Krakow.
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At a later ceremony of reconciliation, he encouraged the 200,000 young people present not to turn their backs on those in need, reiterating the message of acceptance that has been prevalent throughout his tour.
Francis spoke on Saturday evening in a huge meadow outside of the southern city of Krakow following testimony by three young people, including Rand Mittri, a 26-year-old from the Syrian city of Aleppo who spoke about the suffering and death in her homeland from the five-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands and forced millions to flee their homeland.
Francis said it was important for church leaders not to lead “two-track lives” or to “remain enclosed, out of fear or convenience, within ourselves”.
The private encounter took place in the residence of the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, following the morning Mass for priests and religious in the shrine dedicated to Saint John Paul II.
Later in the day, Pope Francis was set to dine with 12 pilgrims who attended the World Youth Day: two from Poland and the rest from the other continents.
Pope Francis urged “drowsy and boring kids” to swap their sofas and video games for walking boots on Saturday (Jul 30) at an global Catholic youth festival in Poland.
The event was the only occasion during Francis’ Wednesday-Sunday visit to Poland dedicated specifically to the country’s clergy, and the pontiff took advantage of the opportunity to again outline his vision for the Catholic church. One of the lucky few, Paula Mora of Colombia, said “it was like being with our father, and we were his children”.
“This year – he says – because of the theme of Mercy, there is a strong call for the young people to be protagonists in constructing a world that is destroyed by a lack of mercy, to take their vocation seriously”. “How can we fail to hear its echo in the great appeal of St John Paul II: “Open the doors”?”
He also prayed before the chapel of St. Faustina, a Polish mystic who was canonized under Pope John Paul II.
Nuns attend a M2ass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Saint John Paul II Sanctuary in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, July 30, 2016.
On Saturday, nuns and priests, singing and waving little banners, greeted Francis as he entered the vast church.
In the Church of the Relics, the lower of two churches in the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II that lies on a hill overlooking some shopping centers, is the container of blood drawn from him during medical care in the final weeks of his life in Rome.
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He is on a five-day visit to Poland to mark the 1,050th anniversary of the country’s adoption of Christianity.
