Religion: Szymon Mosiolek is waiting nervously for a miracle in the Diocese of Krakow travel agency. There are 500 names on the waiting list and only 360 places on two flights to Rome for the Pope's funeral.
"I'm 20 now and I never saw when he became Pope, so I would like to say 'goodbye'," he says. "I don't want to see Rome or Italy, just the Pope."
His determination and his conviction are as impressive as they are representative of the millions of young Poles who have been kneeling and praying for the Pope in public in recent days - something all but unthinkable for their peers in other European countries.
The question now is whether this will change with the appointment of a successor who will inevitably be less relevant for the majority of Poles.
Even the young people who proclaimed their Catholic beliefs admit, when asked, that they did not heed their own beloved Pope on all issues.
"Everything the Pope said is right, but I don't follow everything he said," says Szymon. "I have difficulty with things like his teachings on premarital sex."
This gives a hint of what is to come: a debate about the future direction of the Catholic Church in Poland and the ties between Catholicism and Polish society.
Prof Maria Flis, head of sociology at Krakow's Jagielonski University, believes that the death of the Pope will not impact on the country's devout Catholics. But it will bring into question what she calls Poland's "ritual Catholicism - eagerly practised but of little faith".
"He was the symbol of Polish culture, a heroic symbol of freedom. But people did not listen to him for religious doctrine," she says, adding that Poles, particularly young people, feel Catholic even with a low level of doctrinal knowledge.
"The Pope will stay in the minds of Poles, but there will be no connection between the new Pope and with the choices in their lives."
Another factor will be the emergence of the Polish clergy from 27 years in the shadow of the Polish Pope, the ultimate moral authority on all issues in Polish life.
"Many of the bishops are like lost children," says Roman Graczyk, a journalist and former religious correspondent of Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's leading daily newspaper.
Often the Pope's views were in harmony with the Polish clergy, such as support for the Solidarity movement which eventually brought down communism. But he disagreed with the opposition of the Polish clergy to EU accession, telling Poles before the referendum last year that "Poland's place is in Europe".
Leading Catholics in Poland believe that secularisation is not inevitable inside the EU. They talk proudly of a Polish variety of the "French exception". They accept that Poland is changing through its NATO and EU membership, but will defend traditional Polish values.
"I'm not afraid of discussion or other opinions. We are also not going to stay in the suburbs of Europe," says Krzysztof Kozlowski, former senior editor at Tygodnik Powszechny, the Catholic weekly newspaper.
"I don't like religious parties per se. But if Catholics want to participate in public life, there should be no reason to be afraid of that."
Polish experts have predicted the waning influence of the church for years. The communists made great efforts to assist this and, after the fall of communism, the experts predicted that the church would cease to be relevant. But in many ways it became more relevant by helping people to cope with change.
"Politicians are very weak in Poland and this is why the church remains an alternative authority, at least until the politicians get their act together," said Prof Flis. Like many people in Krakow, she dismisses talk in recent days of burying the Pope's heart in Krakow's Wawel Cathedral alongside the Polish kings.
"That was just a media attempt to further dramatise the drama," she says. A similar view is evident on the streets of Krakow.
"It would be nice if it had happened, but I don't think they need to bring the Pope's heart to Poland. He is in the hearts of Poles," says Piotr Piech (22), a geography student. He believes that the memory of Pope John Paul will keep the faith of Polish young people strong in the future.
"I don't think Poles will be able to separate being Polish and being Catholic," he adds.