Pope Benedict goes to Poland

Vatican City, May 22 : Capping a year of tributes to his predecessor, Pope Benedict goes to Poland this week to urge John Paul's countrymen to defend their Christian heritage as they integrate into an increasingly secularised Europe.

The 79-year-old German Pope will spend four days in Poland starting on Thursday, visiting all the places that were central to the life and spiritual formation of John Paul, who died on April 2, 2005, after a reign of more than 26 years.

Most of the trip takes place in southern Poland -- a tour of Wadowice, where John Paul was born, Krakow, where he served as priest, bishop and cardinal, and of several religious shrines so dear to the late Pope and many Poles.

He will also visit the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz to underscore his commitment to carrying on John Paul's work of improving relations with Jews and fighting anti-Semitism.

The brief stop at the notorious death camp near Krakow will have deep personal significance for the Pope, who served briefly in the Hitler Youth during the war when membership in the Nazi paramilitary organization was compulsory.

But aides and commentators say the trip, whose motto is ''Persevere in Faith,'' will not just be a series of connect-the-dots commemorations of one of the most towering figures of the 20th century.

Benedict will offer a road map for the spiritual future of a country that has seen many changes since the fall of communism in 1989, not all of them good in the eyes of the Church.

''In Poland, we see a slow but continuing process of secularisation, a loss of sense of the faith, of the truth of faith, and the sense of being close to God,'' said Monsignor Pawel Ptasznik, a Vatican official who was close to John Paul.

''As Poland becomes part of Europe, Pope Benedict's message of conserving the faith -- something which we did under the communist regime -- is the most important part of the trip,'' Ptasznik, head of the Polish section in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, told Reuters.

POSTER CHILD SUCCESS

Poland emerged from a deep economic depression following the collapse of communism by reining in run-away inflation, cutting most state subsidies and restructuring industry through privatization, investment and job cuts. The reforms made Poland a poster-child for market oriented changes in the 1990s, but came at a cost of nearly 20 percent unemployment and social exclusion of some middle-aged and elderly without skills to find employment.

The post-communist burst of freedom, heady as it was, and the imperfections of capitalism, have left spiritual orphans in their wake, some Church officials believe.

''An economically rich world often loses its fundamental values.

A secular world often risks losing its cultural and spiritual identity,'' said Ptasznik. ''The Pope wants to say 'don't lose the heritage of what you gained during the years of sacrifices.''' Poland's Church is less influential than in the past but the country, now a member of the European Union and NATO, is still vibrantly Christian. Some commentators say it can be a torchbearer for a Europe the Church feels is under assault by religious indifference.

''I think Benedict will address Europe's death by disbelief and that he will challenge Poland to be a leader in helping Europe re-connect itself to its Christian roots,'' said George Weigel, a leading American Catholic writer and papal biographer.

''Poland remains one of the world's largest intact Catholic cultures and I think it is ready to be summoned to a more assertive leadership role in Europe. I think that is what he is going to ask Poles to do,'' Weigel told Reuters from Washington.

One of the first acts of Benedict's papacy was to put John Paul on the fast track to eventual sainthood. The process for beatification, the last step before sainthood, is well under way.

Some commentators have speculated that the Poland trip may be a watershed mark for Benedict as the transition from John Paul reaches what some see as its natural close.

But most believe the legacy of his predecessor will likely be a permanent part of Benedict's papacy. The two worked closely together for more than 20 years and John Paul created the conditions for Benedict's election in the 2005 conclave.

''I think John Paul's shadow is a long one and I don't think it's going to wane anytime soon,'' said one Church official who has studied both popes.

Reuters