(8 Jun 1997) Natural Sound
It was a blessed day in Krakow Sunday.
Festivities continued with Pope John Paul II celebrating the six-hundredth anniversary of the faculty of theology.
Applauded by more then one (m) million pilgrims, Pope John Paul II also canonized Poland's 14th century Queen Hedwig at an open-air Mass in the southern city of Krakow.
Earlier during the day, His Holiness had met with Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz
The Pope travelled to the university by his normal mode of transport - the Pope-mobile - where he received red carpet treatment.
A large congregation had gathered inside the university church to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the faculty of theology.
The Pope greeted several people inside, while the surrounding crowd applauded him.
He attended various functions on Sunday.
Since early morning, huge crowds gathered for Pope John Paul II's arrival at the Blonie (pronounced Bwohneeyeh) in Krakow.
As usual, he travelled through the flag-waving masses in his trademark Pope-mobile.
More than one (m) million pilgrims attended the open-air mass given by the Pontiff.
It was the biggest crowd so far of his 11-day pilgrimage home.
The Pope canonized Poland's 14th century Queen Hedwig during the mass celebrations, calling her an example for the country's new democracy.
Queen Hedwig, daughter of the King of Hungary, married a Lithuanian prince in 1386, at the age of ten.
She was credited with converting that nation to Christianity and was known for her diplomatic skill and for promoting education in central Europe.
The crowd waved flags and chanted at the open air canonization Mass in this southern Polish city, where Karol Wojtyla served for decades as a priest and a bishop before his election to papacy in 1978.
Krakow has an important place in the Pope's heart because it is the city in which he found his vocation.
Since arriving in Poland on May 31, John Paul has repeatedly called on his fellow Poles to draw from their Christian tradition as they cope with problems like unemployment and poverty that have exploded since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
The crowd at Sunday's Mass was similar to the one the Pontiff saw here 14 years ago.
Then, he spoke of the freedom and solidarity so much needed during communist martial law enforced between 1981 and 1983.
Earlier on Sunday, the Pope received Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, in a 20-minute audience the government chief called extremely warm.
Cimoszewicz said they discussed Polish affairs, including social problems.
John Paul II has called on the government to step up efforts to ease the most painful side-effects of market reforms launched after the communists were toppled in 1989.
Sunday was the ninth day of John Paul's busy trip to his native Poland.
The tour ends on Tuesday.
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