Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Pope’s Benedict’s month of May culminated with his memorable visit to Poland, his second apostolic journey outside of Italy. A journey which was “a pilgrimage to retrace the steps of John Paul II, a pilgrimage of faith” as Pope Benedict XVI explained during his General Audience on 24 May the day before he left. On his return during the Audience of 31 May the Pope told those present about his journey. The Holy Father recalled his unforgettable visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and he said - Hitler had more than 6 million Jews exterminated in the camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau and in other similar camps. About 150,000 Poles and tens of thousands of men and women of other nationalities died at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In the face of the horror of Auschwitz there is no other response than the Cross of Christ: Love descended to the very depths of the abyss of evil to save man in his core, where human freedom can rebel against God. ». The Pope said people must never forget « Auschwitz or the other "death factories" where the Nazi regime attempted to eliminate God in order to replace him! May it not succumb to the temptation of racial hatred which is at the root of the worst forms of anti-Semitism! May people recognise once again that God is the Father of all and calls us all, in Christ, to build a world of justice, truth and peace together! Let us ask this of the Lord through the intercession of Mary, whom today, as we end the month of May, we contemplate in her zealous and loving visit to Elizabeth, her elderly relative».
