Widening our gaze

A constant invitation to preserve the gift of faith and to share it, through witness, also with other peoples of the world: this, in the view of the Archbishop of Warsaw-Prague, the Most Rev. S?AWOJ LESZEK G?ÓD?, is the key point of the apostolic journey made by Pope Benedict to Poland, from 25 to 28 May. It was a journey characterised by a particularly warm and numerous welcome in every stage and by a moment of great historical significance, the visit of Benedict XVI to the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. We interviewed the Archbishop. What were the most significant moments of the apostolic journey of Benedict XVI to Poland? “From a political, social and international point of view, one of the most significant moments was undoubtedly the visit to the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau because what emerged there was an immediate dimension of peace, love and forgiveness. During the rest of the journey, the Holy Father privileged the theological and pastoral aspects in his addresses, focusing a lot of attention on faith. Having acknowledged, first of all, that the Church in Poland is a living reality, Benedict XVI expressed the hope, but also the ‘imperative’, that the Polish people would bear witness to this rich heritage of faith by sharing it with the other countries of Europe and the world”. The Pope more than once appealed to the Poles to “remain steadfast in the faith”… “The Holy Father repeated his appeal to faith and the value of witness on several occasions: during his homily in B?onie park in Krakow, in that at Warsaw and during his meeting with priests in which he asked that the witness of faith be brought to all their compatriots who had emigrated to the rest of Europe to find work and that spiritual life be privileged above all other activities. Some journalists interpreted these words of the Pope as a prohibition for priests to get involved in economics or political affairs. But in actual fact Benedict XVI merely pointed out that spiritual life must take precedence over all else”. Another connecting thread of the Pope’s apostolic journey was the memory of John Paul II… “Benedict XVI speaks of the great gift that the Church had with Karol Wojty?a, and of his holiness. For the Poles it was a surprise and an emotional experience when the Pope, at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, expressed the hope that John Paul II would soon be made a saint”. What’s your comment on the meeting with youth in B?onie park in Krakow on 27 May? “Eighty thousand youth arrived from all over Poland for this moment of prayer. They greeted the Pope with the chant ‘Benedict, God has elected you’. To await the Sunday mass and listen once again to the words of the Pope they remained in the park throughout the night, despite the cold and the rain. For his part, the Pope too was moved by the reception given to him by the huge and multi-coloured throng of the young: at the end of the prayer, he drew close to greet some of them and almost bowed his head before them, his face lit up by a broad and happy smile”. After the apostolic journey, what prospects are opened for the Church in Poland? “We need to widen our gaze beyond the national frontiers, as Benedict XVI invited us to do. Today our frontiers have practically disappeared: all the more reason why those who have a greater heritage of faith, such as the Poles, should give a contribution to the other peoples, especially in Europe, whose greatest problem is poverty of ideologies and values. It seems to me that the need to revive a living faith and real values is something that is of deep concern to the Holy Father. In this sense, the words spoken by Benedict XVI during his visit confirm that Poland is on the right road, that she must not squander this ‘richness’ we have, and that she must continue to go forward with work and prayer”. Are not the problems linked to secularism that characterise other European countries being felt in Poland too? “Undoubtedly, we need to be conscious of the difficulties that are currently sweeping the world. The Holy Father did not explicitly mention here the Gospel of Judas or Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, but the reference to them was clearly implied by his words saying that the truth must not be manipulated by ideologies, fashions or interests. Unfortunately, a part of our youth thinks that the story of Jesus is only one story among many, or they accept Christ but not the Church and the clergy. In Poland these feelings are still not very widespread, but the fact is that we are living in a globalized world, where all possible ideas, true or false, arrive and intermingle. So these problems need to be tackled straight away, also thanks to the existing network of Catholic media. The situation, in this sense, is far from what it was 18 years ago, in the time of the Communist regime: today each diocese has its radio station and its interdiocesan television channel. These media are strong and important. In this sense, too, we should also point out the attention and coverage given by the state and private media to the Pope’s visit, in every stage of his journey”.