Pope Francis, apparently deep in thought, missed a step and fell to the ground Thursday as he approached an open-air altar at Poland’s holiest shrine.
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Francis spoke of the need for worldwide efforts to resolve the wars forcing so many people to leave their homelands.
Pope Francis, visiting a shrine cherished by Poles, praised native son St. John Paul II on Thursday as a “meek and powerful” herald of mercy, and honored the countless “ordinary yet remarkable people” in Poland who held firm to their Catholic faith throughout adversity in the former Communist nation.
“There is a war of interest, there is a war for money, a war for natural resources, a war to dominate people”.
Pope Francis arrives for a welcoming ceremony at Wawel castle in Krakow on 27 July 2016.
Prior to leaving Krakow for Czestochowa, the Pope visited the convent of the Sisters of the Presentation and stopped at a nearby hospital to visit Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, retired Archbishop of Krakow. “The religions don’t want a war; only the others want a war”.
He made the assertion as he arrived in Poland a day after jihadists murdered a Catholic priest in France.
Pope Francis suffers from sciatica, a medical condition in which pain sometimes shoots down the leg from his lower back.
The archbishop cited John Paul II’s document on the family – where communion for divorced and remarried was effectively ruled out – and said that Francis’ text, issued following two synod gatherings, had taken into account the Polish hierarchy’s recommendations. Polish officials say they have deployed tens of thousands of security officials to cover the event.
“The world is at war”, he said in reference to recent terror attacks in Europe and elsewhere.
“This holy priest who died in the moment of offering prayers for the church is one (victim)”. He added that while good memory can remind society of God and his saving work, bad memory keeps the mind and heart “obsessively fixed on evil, especially the wrongs committed by others”, he said.
The Pontiff is planning to participate in a youth jamboree, which marks the weeklong celebration of World Youth Day.
The sense of expectation was apparent in sunny Krakow on Wednesday with papal white-and-yellow flags and images of Francis and John Paul II decorating the streets.
In his first speech after touching down in the city of Krakow, the pontiff said the way to “overcome fear” was to welcome people fleeing conflict and hardship.
Before leaving for Krakow, Chelsea Chavarria, 17, said she was hoping to do just that and more.
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Some 200,000 pilgrims attended an inaugural Mass Tuesday afternoon.
