The Pope in Poland:
Drawing on these Marian overtones, Benedict weaved references to Mary throughout his remarks. To make that symbolism even more fitting, Friday was Mother’s Day in Poland.
Another bit of subtext to the Jasna Góra stop concerns Poland’s not-so-distant past under Communist rule.
In a pointed reminder of that oppression, Benedict presented the shrine with a silver rose that Paul VI had intended to bring in 1966, but was blocked by the Communist authorities. The rose had remained for 40 years in the Vatican, and Benedict told the crowd he was happy "from the bottom of his heart" to be able to deliver it at last.
Another aspect of Poland’s past also cropped up.
Before Benedict arrived, many expected the visit of a German pope to Poland to raise questions of German/Polish reconciliation, and that wrinkle cropped up this afternoon in novel fashion.
Benedict has deliberately chosen not to speak in German on this trip, so as to avoid awakening bitter memories of the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland. The gesture has been appreciated by many Poles, many of whom have also praised the quality of Benedict’s Polish.
In Czestochowa, the Poles took the initiative to break the taboo themselves, by shouting a German greeting to Benedict: Gross Gott, Heilige Vater!, meaning, "Hello, Holy Father!" in traditional Bavarian fashion.
Fr. Guy Sylvester on the meaning and history of the rose.
Allen summarizes the pope’s addresses today.
The text of the second address hasn’t been posted yet, but when it is, it will be here.
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