- Title: POLAND: POPE JOHN PAUL II OPEN-AIR MASS DURING VISIT
- Date: 31st May 1997
- Summary: WROCLAW, POLAND (JUNE 1, 1997) (RTV) 1. SLV CROWD GREETS POPE JOHN PAUL II AS HE ARRIVES AT STADIO ORBIS IN POPE MOBILE 0.25 2. LV STADIO ORBIS/CONDUCTER WITH CHOIR (2 SHOTS) 0.39 3. LAS PEOPLE WATCHING FROM NEARBY BUILDINGS AND IN STADIUM (2 SHOTS) 0.52 4. SLV POPE GIVING MASS 1.07 5. LAS/SCU NUNS AND PEOPLE IN CEREMONIAL DRESS WATCHING (2 SHOTS) 1.17 6. SLV POPE GIVING PRAYER 1.32 7. MV PEOPLE RECEIVING FIRST AID DUE TO COLD WEATHER/AMBULANCE/PERSON ON STRETCHER INTO AMBULANCE (4 SHOTS) 2.02 WROCLAW, POLAND (MAY 31, 1997) (RTV) 8. SLV/TRACKING POPE MOBILE THROUGH STREETS/CROWD (2 SHOTS) 2.11 9. LAS PEOPLE WATCH FROM BALCONIES OF BUILDING 2.13 10. TRACKING POPE BLESSES CROWD PAN TO CROWD 2.20 11. LV CROWD LINING ROAD ON WAY TO CHURCH 2.25 12. LV CROWD INSIDE CHURCH APPLAUDS 2.31 13. SLV POPE GREETS CROWD/CROWD (2 SHOTS) 2.42 14. SLV POPE ADDRESSES AUDIENCE 2.47 15. LAS OFFICIALS WATCHING/APPLAUD (2 SHOTS) 2.56 16. MV/SCU POPE WAVES AND WALKS THROUGH CROWD WITH POLISH PRESIDENT ALEKSANDER KWASNIEWSKI (2 SHOTS) 3.08 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 15th June 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: WROCLAW, POLAND
- City:
- Country: Poland
- Reuters ID: LVAANFFMIOAGT28UJD56RU4LZVF1
- Story Text: - INTRO: Pope John Paul has reached out to the faithful at the first open-air mass of his 11-day visit to Poland stressing the need to end world hunger and his concerns about moral decline in the country.
Thousands of pilgrims from Poland and surrounding countries converged on Wroclaw on Sunday (June 1) for the Pope's open air mass Pope John Paul told his Polish countrymen that a moral wilderness threatened the freedom they won after decades of totalitarianism.
He also lashed out at criticism of the Roman Catholic Church, calling it Poland's true guardian of liberty.
The pontiff raised his voice almost to a shout, pulling no punches in comments applicable to Poland's political and social debate.
"True freedom demands order," he said. "We are talking first of all about the moral order, order in the sphere of values, the order of truth and goodness.
"When there is a void in the area of values -- when chaos and confusion reign in the moral sphere -- freedom dies, man is reduced from freedom to slavery, becoming a slave to passions, and pseudo-values," he said.
Saying thousands of deaths each year from starvation weighed on the world's conscience, Pope John Paul urged an international campaign "to put an end to the plague of hunger." The pontiff continued his speech saying "In an era of unprecedented technical development and new technology, the trauma of hunger is a great challenge and indictment. The earth can feed everybody. Why then today are thousands of people dying of hunger?" His message was delivered after a religious congress in the southern city of Wroclaw attended by Church leaders of all denominations from across the world, including Africa and Asia where food shortages are worst.
He added: "We must at last put an end to the plague of hunger.
Let solidarity take precedence over unbridled lust for profit and the application of those market principles which do not take account of inalienable human rights." The Pope's words struck a chord among the crowd, many of whom had waited in the rain through the night to see him.
Since his first visit to the country in 1979 the Pope's open air masses have had an historic significance in Poland.
Since the fall of communism in 1989, the Pope has often expressed concern that Poland is losing part of its religious heritage as it eagerly embraces social and economic changes.
His current visit coincides with the start of an election campaign putting a pro-church opposition coalition against a government alliance led by ex-communists.
Pope John Paul II began his nostalgic 11-day trip to Poland on Saturday, saying that while he was deeply moved to be home, he was worried about some recent changes in the country including liberalised abortion.
As the Pope drove to Wroclaw's cathedral, crowds of tens of thousands and windows festooned with flags, portraits and flowers in Vatican and Polish colours testified to the Pope's continued great popularity among his compatriots.
Vatican officials say the Pope knows each visit to Poland may be his last, and the most poignant moments may be in Krakow where he was cardinal and where his parents are buried.
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