POLAND: POPE JOHN PAUL II TELLS HUGE CROWD IN KRAKOW THAT ONLY GOD WOULD DECIDE IF HE COULD RETURN HOME AGAIN

Record ID: 647763

  • Title: POLAND: POPE JOHN PAUL II TELLS HUGE CROWD IN KRAKOW THAT ONLY GOD WOULD DECIDE IF HE COULD RETURN HOME AGAIN
  • Date: 18th August 2002
  • Summary: (W7) KRAKOW, POLAND (AUGUST 18, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. TRAVELLING SHOTS: POPE JOHN PAUL II'S MOTORCADE DRIVING THROUGH THE STREETS OF KRAKOW (2 SHOTS) 0.11 2. SV: POPE IN POPE MOBILE BEING GIVEN FLOWERS BY LITTLE GIRL; POPE KISSES LITTLE GIRL 0.22 3. VARIOUS OF CHEERING CROWDS, PEOPLE ON BALCONIES CHEERING, WAVING FLAGS 0.37 4. SV: NUNS WAVING 0.40 5. MV/SLV: POPE ARRIVES AT WAWEL CATHEDRAL (2 SHOTS) 0.51 6. SLV: POPE ENTERS THE CATHEDRAL 1.00 7. TRAVELLING SHOT/SLV: POPE'S MOTORCADE DRIVING TOWARDS THE HOUSE WHERE HE USED TO LIVE AT ST FLORIAN'S CHURCH WHERE HE ASKED PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR HIM BEFORE AND AFTER HIS DEATH (2 SHOTS) 1.16 8. MV/SCU: PEOPLE CHEERING CHANTING "WELCOME HOME" (2 SHOTS) 1.22 9. SV: PLAQUE SAYING THAT THE POPE LIVED HERE 1.26 10. LONG OF POPE MOBILE IN THE COURTYARD OF THE CHURCH 1.35 11. TRAVELLING SHOT: POPE'S MOTORCADE DRIVING TOWARDS CEMETERY WHERE HIS PARENTS ARE BURIED, CROWDS LINING THE STREETS CHEERING 1.41 12. MV: NUNS AT GRAVEYARD SINGING 1.45 13. SV/ZOOM OUT: POPE LIGHTING A CANDLE (2 SHOTS) 2.03 14. SCU: POPE PRAYING 2.08 15. WIDE OF PRIESTS AND POPE 2.14 (NIGHT SHOTS) 16. WS: CROWDS 2.21 17. SLV: POPE APPEARING IN THE WINDOW OF HIS RESIDENCE 2.30 18. WS: CROWDS CHEERING 2.36 19. SV: POPE SINGING TO CROWDS "WE SAY FAREWELL TO YOU, HALLELUJAH" 3.06 20. WIDE OF POPE AT WINDOW 3.10 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KRAKOW, POLAND
  • Country: Poland
  • Reuters ID: LVA26MDJ3F0K1KLDU4FDNDFRL6P2
  • Story Text: Pope John Paul has told the largest crowd he has ever
    addressed in his native Poland that only God would decide if
    he could return home again and later asked for prayers for him
    now and after his death.


    The Pope, in the middle of an emotional trip home that
    may be his last, made his comments when he stopped his
    motorcade in front of Krakow's St Florian Church, where he
    served from 1948-50.

    "I am asking all the parishioners for a prayer for the
    living and for the dead and for a prayer for the Pope during
    his life and after his death," the ailing 82-year-old Pontiff
    said The Pope, who has appeared in relatively good condition
    during this weekend trip, rarely speaks about his own death
    but has often said his fate is in God's hands.

    He later made a very brief visit to the graves of his
    mother and father. But he prayed from his popemobile without
    leaving it, as he has done in past visits to the cemetery.

    The comments outside the church came at the end of a day in
    which he preached to an estimated 2.7 million people packed in
    and around Krakow's Blonia meadow.

    Despite the heat and his heavy liturgical vestments, the
    Pontiff completed a three-hour ceremony and responded to
    chants from his adoring countryfolk with the wit and the
    timing of an actor.

    The Pope, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and other
    ailments, once again joked about reports that he would retire
    instead of reigning for life as is customary.

    When the crowd chanted "stay with us", he responded:
    "That's nice, you are trying to persuade me to abandon Rome."
    In the evening, the Pope appeared at his window as he has
    done over the years to greet the crowd in the street below.

    He began to sing the song that was composed especially for
    him on a prior visit to Poland - one of his first - in which
    the words "We welcome you, Hallelujah" are repeated. Crowds
    have serenaded this song to the Pope since it was first
    composed.

    This time, however, the Pope sang to them and after the
    first few verses changed the lyrics to "We say farewell to
    you, Hallelujah."
    The crowds shouted "No!" at any sign that the Pope may not
    return to Poland, but then continued to cheer for him in his
    presence.



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