The Evangelical Pope | Steadfast Faithfulness to Our Roots

St. Adalbert’s Church on Kraków’s Main Market Square

Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.

               ¹¹ We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened our hearts to you. ¹² We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. ¹³ As a fair exchange—I speak to my children—open your hearts wide.

               __ 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (New International Version)

Krakow Airport – 10 June 1997 | Fidelity—steadfast faithfulness—to roots does not mean mechanically copying the patterns of the past.

Faithfulness to our roots is a beacon of creativity. We are always ready to delve into the depths, embrace new challenges, and heed the ‘signs of the times.’ This is a testament to our commitment to developing our native culture, which has been enriched by the Christian element since its inception.

Fidelity to roots means creating an organic synthesis of perennial values, confirmed so often in history and the challenge of today’s world, faith and culture, the Gospel, and life.

My wish for my countrymen and Poland is that she will be able to be faithful to herself and to the roots from which she has grown in this precise way.

               A Poland faithful to her roots.

               A Europe that cherishes its roots is united in its diversity and stands firm in facing challenges.

               In this context, the Presidents of the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Poland have participated in the celebrations for Saint Adalbert, which is of historical importance. I am most grateful to them for this.

Moments of farewell are always tricky. I take my leave of you, my beloved countrymen, with a profound awareness that this farewell does not signify breaking the bond that unites me with you – which unites me to my dear native land. As I return to the Vatican, I carry all of you, your joys, and your cares; I have my whole native land.

I want you to remember that Poland occupies a particular place in the “geography of the Pope’s prayer” for the universal Church and the whole world. At the same time, following the example of the Apostle Saint Paul, I ask you to make room for me in your hearts (2 Corinthians 6: 11-13) and in your prayers that I may be able to serve the Church of God for as long as Christ requires it of me.

May God reward you for your hospitality!

May he bless my homeland and all my fellow countrymen!

Excerpted from:

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II TO POLAND (MAY 31-JUNE 10, 1997), ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II AT HIS DEPARTURE FROM POLAND, Krakow Airport – 10 June 1997

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1997/june/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19970610_congedo-polonia.html