Pope, Still Ailing, Pays a Sentimental Visit

Rallying from a weakness so profound he wasn’t able to muster a smile, Pope John Paul II recovered a hint of his hallmark wit and warmth Wednesday, the last full day of his Polish visit, to bid farewell to this beloved place of his birth and baptism.

It was the most moving of his 18 stops on this longest and presumably last of seven papal visits to Poland that has taken the ailing, 79-year-old pontiff across the length and breadth of the country.

In the eyes of more than 1 million Poles who greeted him here in Wadowice, in the nearby monastery town of Stary Sacz and in the heart of Krakow, sorrow mingled with adoration as many reflected on the slipping strength of the man who rose from among them to become “the people’s pope.”

“We’re hoping God will not do such a thing as not allow him to come back to us,” said Maria Cichon, a 57-year-old former city worker, recalling how all of Wadowice had flocked to the church where John Paul was baptized to pray for the pontiff when he was forced to stay in bed Tuesday with the flu.

Still pale and moving with obvious discomfort, the pope picked up his demanding itinerary with a morning beatification ceremony for a 13th century Hungarian princess in Stary Sacz, prayers at Wadowice’s basilica and a glimpse of the home of his birth--plus a late-night stop in Krakow’s Old Town to compensate for having canceled the biggest Mass of his visit the previous day.

After an early visit to the Krakow graveyard where his parents, brother and sister are buried, the pope was to wind up his trip and return to the Vatican later today.

A crowd of more than 600,000 greeted the pope in Stary Sacz, where he was fighting the fatigue inflicted by his punishing schedule and a viral fever. His left hand shook uncontrollably with the telltale sign of Parkinson’s disease, which the Vatican has never publicly admitted the pontiff suffers from, and he clung to a crucifix-mounted staff during his brief moments of standing.

He slurred noticeably while reading the beatification vows for the Blessed Kinga, who founded a local order of cloistered nuns, and Bishop Wiktor Skworc of nearby Tarnow read his sermon for him.

But here, where John Paul served as an altar boy and decided on a life dedicated to his Roman Catholic faith, the pope was visibly uplifted by the adoration emanating from the crowd of 200,000 flooding this town that is home to only 28,000.

“I wish to cross these hospitable thresholds, bow before my native soil and its inhabitants, and utter the words of greeting given to family members upon their return from a long journey: ‘Praised be Jesus Christ,’ ” the pope told the tearful crowd waving the yellow-and-white flags of the Vatican in Wadowice’s market square.

Although his mother died delivering a stillborn daughter when he was just 9 and his brother succumbed three years later, John Paul paid tribute to the loving home and strong family life that provided him with the moral compass for a life in the priesthood.

The pope ended his last night of this visit home with a sweep through central Krakow in the popemobile, to the delight of another mob of devoted followers. Before bed, he appeared at the upper-story balcony of the archbishop’s residence where he was staying to bless the cheering and singing crowd that had followed him from the Old Town center and assure them he was well.

“Yes, I’m still alive,” he told the crowd that had been chanting greetings wishing him a long life. “Be strong, and good night.”