More than 20,000 Polish pilgrims packed out St Peter's Square in Rome yesterday for an emotional celebration of the 20th anniversary of the pontificate of Poland's most famous son, Pope John Paul II, writes Paddy Agnew. Red and white Polish flags and banners of the trade union Solidarity were waved to the accompaniment of Polish hymns and the song Sto Lat (May you live 100 years!) as the pilgrims celebrated the election 20 years ago of the first non-Italian Pope since 1522.
Typically, even on this festive occasion, the Pope chose to remind his compatriots of his disappointment at the way post-communist Poland has developed, apparently moving down an ever more materialist road that rejects the Pope's conservative teachings on sexual morality.
He said: "Poland today needs people of deep faith and upright conscience based on the Gospel and the church's social doctrine . . . It needs courageous and responsible Christians".
Addressing an audience that included President Aleksander Kwasniew ski of Poland, Cardinal Jozef Glemp and Solidarity leaders, the Pope thanked the Polish nation for its prayers and called on pilgrims to pray with him again for the future. "For many years I have been preparing with the entire church to cross into the third millennium . . . I ask you to pray so that I can carry out to the end the work God has entrusted to me."
Yesterday's Polish media were dominated by tributes to the Pope, tributes summed up by the financial daily Rzeczpospolita, which commented: "After 20 years of this Pope, it is difficult to overestimate the value and greatness of his pontificate."
Tomorrow, the Pope presides over a special celebration Mass in St Peter's, held to mark solemnly the pontificate anniversary.