Pope Beatifies 110 in Warsaw Ceremony

At a Mass before 1 million pilgrims who turned the center of the Polish capital into a human sea, Pope John Paul II beatified 110 martyrs Sunday and called on fellow Poles to emulate the sacrifice and charity of Roman Catholic victims of history.

The beatification ceremonies drew one of the biggest gatherings of the pope’s 20-year pontificate as he sent the 110 who gave their lives for their faith to the last step before sainthood.

The Mass that flooded sprawling Pilsudski Square with worshipers and filled streets and intersections over a square mile was celebrated at the same site where John Paul used his first papal Mass in his homeland in 1979 to issue a call that would ignite Eastern Europe’s pro-democracy movements.

Twenty years and 11 days later, he basked in the glow of his countrymen’s victory over the forces of atheism and evil.

“In those difficult times, we begged the Holy Spirit to light the flame of hope in men’s hearts, and the cry has been heard,” recalled the pope, drawing thunderous applause.

“Before our eyes, changes of political, social and economic systems have taken place, enabling individuals and nations to see anew the splendor of their own dignity,” he proclaimed during a service that lasted more than three hours.

“Truth and justice are recovering their proper value, becoming a challenge for all those who are able to appreciate the gift of freedom,” he continued. “For this, we give thanks to God, looking toward the future with confidence.”

As he has throughout this 13-day pilgrimage to his transformed homeland, the pope also asked fellow Poles to reflect on the sacrifice and suffering that occurred along their nation’s tortured progression to democracy and freedom.

Of the 110 people he beatified, all but two were killed during the occupation of Poland by the Nazis, who saw the Roman Catholic Church as a challenge to their authority. More than 2,700 Catholic priests were killed in Poland during World War II, often those who sought to defend the country’s 3.3 million Jews from the Third Reich’s campaign of annihilation.

Most of the martyrs named Sunday were beaten or shot to death, were gassed in extermination camps or died of illnesses contracted in the squalor of incarceration.

The other two Poles beatified were Regina Protmann, a 16th century noblewoman who founded an order of nuns dedicated to nursing plague victims, and Edmund Bojanowski, a 19th century lay minister to the sick and unfortunate despite his own affliction with tuberculosis.

“May their witness lead to a new awareness of the needs of others. May it inspire all to serve others selflessly, in a spirit of love of God and neighbor,” the pontiff prayed as a thundershower doused the crowd.

The pope also said prayers at a military cemetery, officiated at an evening liturgy and spoke to another huge gathering of the faithful in nearby Radzymin, although he was clearly fatigued and often slurred his words by the end of another grueling day.

John Paul travels to his native Krakow region today for the remaining four days of his visit.

Ela Kasprzycka of The Times’ Warsaw Bureau contributed to this report.