” “As he briefly illustrated, in his address to the authorities who welcomed him at Warsaw airport, the stages of his apostolic journey to Poland, Benedict XVI highlighted first of all: “I hope these meetings will bear plenty of fruit to our common faith and to the social and political conditions in which today’s men and women are living”. Then, he briefly commented the stages of his visit (as well as Warsaw and Cracow, the journey will include Czêstochowa, Wadowice, Kalwaria, £agiewniki and Wawel Cathedral) and said: "I am well aware these are the places that John Paul II loved most because he associated them with his growth in faith and his pastoral service”. After mentioning his meeting with the young, he spoke of his visit to Auschwitz. “There he said I hope I’ll meet the surviving victims of the Nazi terror, coming from many countries, who suffered such a tragic oppression. We’ll pray all together that the plagues of the century may heal under the medication that the good God shows us by calling us to forgive one another and offers to us in the mystery of His mercy”. Finally, he recalled the motto chosen for this apostolic journey: “Stay strong in your faith” and he concluded with the words: “may this visit of mine be a time of brotherhood, kindness and hope”.
