Poles Gather in Largest Mourning Service

More than 200,000 Poles turned out here Tuesday for a national Mass on the same square where in 1979, Pope John Paul II famously asked the Holy Spirit to “renew the face of the Earth, this Earth!” in a challenge to the then-ruling Communists.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski joined government and parliamentary officials and almost the entire Polish episcopate in the capital for the service, which was considered the largest mourning ceremony ever held in Poland. An army choir sang solemn, dirge-like hymns, and several in the crowd spoke of their love for the pope. Some alluded to a “special magic energy” they said the pontiff’s death has unleashed here, bringing people together with a sense of purpose and care for one another.

“I myself don’t go to church. But after these dramatic events, I have felt a need to come and pray and unite with people in this beautiful moment,” said one self-identified nonbeliever, Jakub Skorupa, 20, wearing a sports jacket over a black shirt, and a silver earring.

Skorupa, who is training to become a teacher, said that “for young people, the pope was the greatest man of our times.”

“We love you Daddy,” read a banner held by a youth group, one of scores that arrived from around the country.

There also was a large banner with the pope’s personal motto, “Totus tuus,” Latin for “I am all yours,” an expression of his devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.

Boy and girl scouts in flat hats with black ribbons on their badges and uniforms passed out water in plastic cups during the service, broadcast live across the country. So many people wanted to take Holy Communion that priests were still distributing the sacrament at nearby churches an hour after the Mass had ended.

Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the Polish primate who celebrated the Mass with 250 priests and a score of bishops, eulogized John Paul as the greatest son of Poland and announced plans for a crypt and symbolic sarcophagus to be built here, although the pope will be interred in Rome.

“We are praying for John Paul II, thanking God for all the good the Holy Father gave us, for his teachings and for being an example of a beautiful life, who remained with us in his witness until the very end.... His teachings, not always understood, tell us a truth that should be revealed and lived,” Glemp said.

Alluding to the near-impossibility that the College of Cardinals would choose another Pole as pontiff, Glemp promised: “We will embrace the future pope with the same respect and honor that is the due of a head of a church that is leading people to salvation.”

“All of these events have been very moving for us,” economist Urszula Flis, 60, said at the end of the Mass.

“People were so involved when the pope was sick, watching on television all the time, waiting for news from the Vatican. We are living this,” she said.

“There is this special magic energy you can feel,” said Marek Pszczolkowski, 32, a long-haired bank employee.

“I think this spirit will stay with us for a long time and we will be better for it,” he said. It is “about being a better human being, and generally doing good.”

The Mass took place on the eve of departure for many Poles planning to attend the papal funeral in Rome on Friday. Officials have estimated that 1 million to 2 million Poles may travel by air, rail or road to attend the rites at the Vatican.

In the pope’s boyhood home of Wadowice, in southern Poland, townspeople collected in small satin bags samples of soil from places John Paul had mentioned in reminiscences of his youth over the years. They said the sachets would be taken to Rome to be buried with the pontiff’s remains in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, allowing at least a little of Poland to lie with him.

Four special trains were scheduled to leave Warsaw, and two more from Krakow. Hundreds of people lined up for 5,000 tickets reduced to about half the regular price of $250; they quickly sold out. Airlines also were busy adding flights.

Meanwhile, authorities said stores, factories and government offices would close Friday to allow Poles to observe broadcasts of the funeral at home or on giant television screens being erected in major cities and towns.

State television said Monday that it would not run commercial advertisements this week and announced that, until the funeral, it would be observing a minute of silence each night at 9:37, the time of the pope’s death Saturday.

Special correspondent Ela Kasprzycka contributed to this report.