June 6, 06
Papal Plea: "May Humanity Not Forget Auschwitz!"
VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI reflected on his pastoral trip to Poland and made a special plea for the world to recall the horrors generated in World War II.
"May today's humanity not forget Auschwitz and the other 'death factories' in which the Nazi regime tried to eliminate God to take his place!" the Pope exclaimed in St. Peter's Square.
As Pope John Paul II used to do, Benedict XVI dedicated his address at today's general audience to review the key moments of his pilgrimage abroad. His four-day visit to Poland ended last Sunday.
The German Pontiff reflected on his trip in the presence of 35,000 people gathered on a sunny morning, and recalled his emotional visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, before boarding the plane to return to Rome.
"Hitler had 6 million Jews exterminated," the Pope said. "In Auschwitz-Birkenau some 150,000 Poles and tens of thousands of men and women of other nationalities also died."
According to Benedict XVI, "In the face of the horror of Auschwitz there is no other answer than the cross of Christ: Love that descends to the abyss of evil to save man in his innermost being, where his freedom can rebel against God."
"May men again know that God is Father of all and that he calls all in Christ to build together a world of justice, truth and peace!" the Holy Father stressed.
Landmarks
The rest of the papal address included notes on his journey through Polish lands to encourage the faith of the nation in which Karol Wojtyla, the future John Paul II, was born.
He recalled his visit to the capital, Warsaw, his moments of prayer in John Paul II's beloved shrines, the national Polish shrine of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, that of Our Lady of Kalwaria Zebrzidowska and of Divine Mercy, as well as his visits to Wadowice, birthplace of his predecessor, and Krakow.
In Krakow, Benedict XVI celebrated a Mass in which he highlighted the message he wished to leave with Poles: "Stand firm in the faith!"
"This is the instruction he [John Paul II] has left the children of his beloved Poland, encouraging them to persevere in faithfulness to Christ and to the Church so that Europe and the world will never lack the contribution of her evangelical testimony," Benedict XVI stated.
"All Christians," he added, "must feel committed to give this testimony so as to avoid that humanity of the third millennium might again know new horrors similar to those tragically evoked by the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau."
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