Pope draws large crowds as he visits Polish shrine
Polish church officials said as many as 600,000 people flocked to the outdoor Mass at the monastery. In the evening, local church organizers in Krakow said another 500,000 faithful, young people from all around the world cheered Francis at a pep rally on a meadow in the southern city.
Vatican officials and police declined to offer any estimates.
During the pep rally, people sang and danced to lively tunes, waving flags from places as different as Tennessee and Turkey. In a gesture to the Argentine-born, tango-loving Francis, Poles devised a tango number with Polish lyrics.
“John Paul is no more, but Francis means a continuation of this great love for God that our Polish pope has given us,” Marcin Zbik, a student
CZESTOCHOWA, Poland — Pope Francis missed a step and fell to the ground Thursday as he walked on an open-air platform to celebrate Mass at Poland’s holiest shrine of Jasna Gora.
In a dramatic moment, the 79-year-old Francis, walking in his long robe with an incense holder in his hand, did not notice a step down from the platform and fell to the ground before the altar. Francis braced his fall with his left hand and priests around him rushed to help, with Mons. Guido Marini, an aide, helping him back to his feet.
The Mass proceeded as planned and the pope delivered a long homily before tens of thousands of faithful gathered at the foot of the Jasna Gora monastery in Poland’s southern city of Czestochowa.
Asked if Francis had suffered any ill effects from the fall, a Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, said “the pope is fine.” from the northwestern town of Police told The Associated Press.
The Mass marked this year’s 1,050th anniversary of Poland’s acceptance of the Roman Catholic faith, a move that eventually set it apart culturally from Orthodox nations in the region. Polish President Andrzej Duda and other political leaders sat in front rows at the Mass.
Francis urged Poles to stay united even as their nation is divided over the issue of refugees and migrants, especially those who aren’t Christians.