Road to the Monastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nA special anniversary for the Polish nation coincides with this great gathering of Catholic youth in Krakow.\u00a0 One thousand-fifty years ago, the first ruler of Poland, King Miescko, embraced Christianity for himself and his people.\u00a0 During his visit to Poland, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Monastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa commemorating this important anniversary.\u00a0 In 1966, Pope Paul VI intended to visit Jasna Gora, the heart of Polish Catholicism, to celebrate the millennium of Christianity in this country, but the communist government forbade his visit.\u00a0 A celebration was still held at Jasna Gora, but an empty chair was placed in the sanctuary symbolizing the absence of the Pope and in defiance of the authorities.\u00a0 At the conclusion of the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, the Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa made reference to the empty chair and the crowd of over 300,000 clapped and cheered.<\/p>\nMonastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAlso significant was Pope Francis\u2019 visit to Auschwitz.\u00a0 He is the third Pope to have visited this concentration camp located near Krakow.\u00a0 Pope Francis prayed, met with Jewish authorities, and met Holocaust survivors, including fifteen from Auschwitz.\u00a0 The date which he visited, July 29th<\/sup>, was significant since it was the anniversary date that Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest imprisoned at Auschwitz, courageously offered to take the place of a man who was selected to die.\u00a0 The cell where Saint Maximilian died is still marked today by a burning paschal candle and flowers.<\/p>\nPope Francis took time to visit Cardinal Macharski, the retired archbishop of Krakow who is very ill and close to death.\u00a0 He also made an unexpected visit to the parents of a Polish young man from Katowice who suspended his studies to become a full-time volunteer of World Youth Day.\u00a0 As his volunteer year progressed, he became sick with cancer and died just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\nChurch of Corpus Christi, Krakow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe joy of the youth gathered was palpable, especially at the Vigil where 1.6 million attended and the Mass where about two million participated.\u00a0 World Youth Day was full of faith, hope, and love, providing evidence that the Catholic Church is young and strong.\u00a0 The graces of these days will now pour out throughout the world, encouraging millions of faithful Catholics, impacting the course of events, and guiding more and more souls to Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0Last week Pope Francis traveled to Krakow, Poland to join hundreds of thousands of young men and women gathered to live out their faith as one.\u00a0 Hailing from 187 countries, almost every country in the world was represented.\u00a0 Catechesis was held for pilgrims in thirty-three languages.\u00a0 Many cardinals, over one thousand bishops, and tens of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":1972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[414,416,404,403,197,163],"class_list":["post-1976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-czestochowa","tag-jasna-gora","tag-krakow","tag-poland","tag-pope-francis","tag-world-youth-day"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a> \u00a0Last week Pope Francis traveled to Krakow, Poland to join hundreds of thousands of young men and women gathered to live out their faith as one.\u00a0 Hailing from 187 countries, almost every country in the world was represented.\u00a0 Catechesis was held for pilgrims in thirty-three languages.\u00a0 Many cardinals, over one thousand bishops, and tens of thousands of priests and religious traveled with their faithful to be present at this unique gathering of youth which Saint John Paul II started in Rome thirty-two years ago when he called for young people to gather on Palm Sunday.\u00a0 This first simple gathering exceeded all expectations when 250,000 young people came together to pray.\u00a0 This is the second time that Poland hosts World Youth Day, the first took place in Czestochowa in 1991.<\/p>\n