WBP-WEBLOGPH : Poland

Pope Francis celebrated mass Sunday with over 2.5 million pilgrims in a vast sun-drenched field, wrapping up a emotionally charged trip to Poland which took him to Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. 
 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pope Francis delivers his last message on Poland with over 2.5 million pilgrims attending.</td></tr>
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High-spirited teenagers, scouts, priests and families had camped under the stars in the vast "Campus Misericordiae" (Field of Mercy) near the city of Krakow ahead of the final mass of a week-long Catholic festival. 
 
Francis whipped out technology metaphors for today's chat and app-happy pilgrims, telling them to "download the best link of all, that of a heart which sees and transmits goodness without growing weary". 
 
He said they should be dreamers who believe "in a new humanity", one that "rejects hatred between peoples" and "refuses to see borders and barriers". They should use the gospel, he said, as their GPS. 
 
Hundreds of thousands of people had streamed to the grassy site Saturday with folding chairs, sleeping bags, umbrellas and sun-hats, amid warnings hours in the baking July sun could be broken with a rainstorm. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.trendingnewsphfile.com/2016/08/pope-francis-tells-young-people-to.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Pope Francis tells young people to 'download a good heart'</a>. 
 
"This is the trip of a lifetime, for me and my whole family," said 29-year old Mexican pilgrim Isaac Victoria, as volunteers handed out bottles of water to the thirsty crowds. 
 
At the evening vigil on Saturday, Francis chastised "drowsy and dull kids who confuse happiness with a sofa", urging them to get out and live life rather than spend it glued to smartphones. 
 
The final festivities were attended by "between 2.5 and 3.0 million people," 2016 World Youth Day spokesperson Anna Chmura told AFP. Polish police declined to give an estimate. 
 
Latin America's first pontiff had faced stiff competition at the start of his five-day trip with the memory of immensely popular Polish pope and saint John Paul II, but quickly made the festivities his own. 
 
As he visited the death camp in Auschwitz, he warned that the cruelty seen there "did not end" with World War II. 
 
The "world is at war", Francis said, but the way to "overcome fear" was to welcome people fleeing conflicts and persecution -- a message with particular resonance in Poland, which has taken a hard line against refugees. 
 
On Saturday he prayed for God to rid the world of the "devastating wave of terrorism". 
 
"In these dangerous times, he is convincing people not to be afraid to open up," pilgrim Kasia Czajka, 40, said. 
 
"While John Paul II was especially focused on the young, Francis is for all people in need". 
 
'Multiculturalism as opportunity' 
 
The head of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics cracked joke after joke with youngsters gathered nightly beneath his window, cranking up the party spirit at an event dubbed "the Catholic Woodstock". 
 
The medieval centre of Krakow has been overrun all week by flag-waving groups from China to Samoa and Mexico, who were entertained between masses with concerts, break-dancing and football matches. 
 
But Friday was a day of mourning as Francis walked silently through the notorious wrought-iron "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Sets You Free) gate at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, where 1.1 million people were murdered. 
 
Freeing himself from the imposing security laid on for his visit, Francis sat on a bench among the trees and bowed his head in prayer before meeting Holocaust survivors and Catholics who had helped save Jews. 
 
"Lord, have mercy on your people. Lord, forgive so much cruelty," the pope wrote in a memorial book. 
 
In a heartfelt appeal to the world's young, he said it was up to them to fight xenophobia and "teach us how to live in diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism not as a threat, but an opportunity." 
 
 
 
Source: <a href="http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/575794/news/world/over-2-5-million-pilgrims-at-pope-fest-finale-in-poland?utm_source=GMANews&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=GMANewsFacebook" target="_blank">GMA</a>

Poland Pope Francis Stories World News Over 2.5 million pilgrims at Pope Francis' fest finale in Poland

Pope Francis celebrated mass Sunday with over 2.5 million pilgrims in a vast sun-drenched field, wrapping up a emotionally charged trip to P...

KRAKOW, Poland - Pope Francis wrapped up his Polish visit on Sunday with a huge outdoor Mass where he told young people to look beyond the instant gratification afforded by technology, and instead to try to change the world. 
 
 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pope Francis visits Poland.</td></tr>
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Hundreds of thousands of young people, many of whom camped out for the night, waved national flags and cheered as Francis arrived to say the Mass in a large field on the outskirts of Krakow at the end of his five-day trip to Poland where he presided at the Catholic Church's World Youth Day festivities. 
 
Francis, 79, who has said he is a "disaster" with technology, sprinkled his sermon at the last major event of the trip with social media and technology terms. 
 
He urged the young people to "'download' the best 'link' of all, that of a heart which sees and transmits goodness without growing weary." 
 
He said their response to the challenges of life cannot be "texting a few words," that prayer should be given pride of place over their internet "chats," and that God's memory was not a "hard disk" filled with files on everyone, but more of a compassionate heart that wants to help them "erase" evil. 
 
Francis encouraged them to continue "to be dreamers [who] believe in a new humanity, one that rejects hatred between peoples, one that refuses to see borders as barriers." 
 
The trip has been marked by heavy security, including metal detectors and sniffer dogs at most events. 
 
During an unscheduled stop in a Krakow church on Saturday night, Francis condemned the "devastating wave of terrorism" and war that has hit the world. 
 
When he started the trip on Wednesday, Francis said the killing of an elderly priest in France by suspected Islamist militants and a string of other attacks were proof the "world is at war" but that it was not caused by religion. 
 
He announced that the next World Youth Day would take place in Panama in 2019. 
 Also read: <a href="http://www.trendingnewsphfile.com/2016/08/over-25-million-pilgrims-at-pope.html" target="_blank">Over 2.5 million pilgrims attends pope fest finale in Poland</a>
 
Source: <a href="http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/575803/lifestyle/download-a-good-heart-pope-francis-tells-young-as-polish-visit-ends?utm_source=GMANews&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=GMANewsFacebook" target="_blank">GMA</a>

Poland Pope Francis Stories Technology World News Pope Francis tells young people to ‘download a good heart’ on his last day of visit in Poland

KRAKOW, Poland - Pope Francis wrapped up his Polish visit on Sunday with a huge outdoor Mass where he told young people to look beyond the i...

Over 2.5 million pilgrims at Pope Francis' fest finale in Poland

Pope Francis tells young people to ‘download a good heart’ on his last day of visit in Poland

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