Pope Benedict XVI is now in Poland: it is the first apostolic journey planned by the German Pope. The event is being followed with close attention by the German media. Writing in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Konrad Schuller comments: “ Benedict XVI is due to arrive in Poland, the country of his predecessor John Paul II, on Thursday; a mixture of state of emergency and routine predominates in the country in anticipation of it. But the routine cannot disguise the fact that Benedict XVI, the German Josef Ratzinger, is visiting a Church in Poland that is not at peace with itself. The tensions between a popular, emotional and sometimes intolerant traditional Catholicism and a modern intellectual Church, keen on openness, have recently increased due to the controversy over the euro-sceptic and anti-Semitic radio station Radio Maryja and are dividing the episcopate. In this atmosphere, Benedict XVI has chosen an itinerary that emphasises his links with John Paul II, who always exhorted the Poles to open themselves to Europe and to foster reconciliation between Christians and Jews. Apart from Warsaw, he will visit Wojtyla’s birthplace, Wadowice, Krakow, the city of his activity as cardinal, and Auschwitz. The Poles seem to have got the message; according to a poll, 55 percent of them are of the view that Josef Ratzinger is “our Pope”, just like Karol Wojtyla before him “. “ Benedict XVI following in the footsteps of John Paul II” is the headline with which the French Catholic paper La Croix opens its edition of 24/05. “ In Poland today – writes Bernard Jouanno , special correspondent in Krakow – it’s rare for everyone to agree. But the visit of Benedict XVI has been unanimously welcomed. The German pope, whom the Poles already call ‘our’ pope, as they had affectionately called John Paul II, will be given a warm welcome”. The author of the article goes on to describe the situation of the Polish Church today. “ In spite of the apparent signs of good health – he writes – the Church is going through a delicate period. It is having, for instance, to come to terms with revelations (whether true or false) that accuse a number of priests of having been secret agents during the Communist period“. “ For the first time in so clear a manner, the episcopate is revealing differences in pastoral outlook“. Then there is the case of Radio Maryja, founded by the Redemptorist religious, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, which is “ at the centre of the national and ecclesial debate” due to its controversial editorial line. “ After the end of Communism – explains Jouanno to his readers – Polish society and the Polish Church have changed a great deal and rapidly. Many people have failed to keep pace with these changes and now feel marginalized, left to one side by this too rapid development. Forced by difficult living conditions, often nostalgic for the past, they feel ill at ease with modernity. The State and the Church have ignored them, whereas Father Rydzyk has lent them a willing ear, given them a chance to express their views and has promoted their interests“. “ Will Benedict XVI – asked the journalist – be satisfied with following in the footsteps of John Paul II and paying homage to his predecessor? It would be surprising if Benedict – though engaged in this pilgrimage – did not make his own personal voice heard“. Will the Poles be willing to listen to it? “ The success of this visit depends on this challenge”, concludes Jouanno“. The Italian dailies, too, are following with interest Benedict XVI’s journey to the land of Karol Wojtyla. “ The motto chosen for the visit – writes Aldo Maria Valli on the front page of Europa – is ‘Remain strong in the faith’. A recent poll maintains that only four Poles out of every hundred expressly declare themselves atheists, but it’s also true that attendance at Sunday mass is declining and that on the whole an ever more secularised atmosphere is gaining ground in the country“. “ Two Polands – comments the author of the article – that are ever more different from each other and ever further apart must live together, and the Pope’s visit makes the problem even more evident“. Reviewing the situation of the country and of the Church, both of them divided and in difficulty, Luigi Geninazzi , correspondent of the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire (25/05), writes: “ The purification of memory, so close to the heart of John Paul II, is not a painless problem and poses new and dramatic challenges to Poland. Not least for this reason there is great expectation for the visit of Benedict XVI and for what he will have to say. It’s his first international journey, a media event for which four thousand journalists have been accredited, double the number present during the last journey of Karol Wojtyla to Krakow“.
