Poland: German pope seeking to heal wounds after Nazi terror

Photo: Poland: German pope seeking to heal wounds after Nazi terror

While following in the footsteps of friend and mentor John Paul, Benedict made clear the four-day trip to Poland was "no mere sentimental journey" but was intended to keep alive his predecessor's goals - German-Polish reconciliation, strengthening relations with Jews and keeping Poland a beacon of Catholicism in a secular Europe.

"Stand firm in your faith," he said in the first address by a German pope on Polish soil.

Benedict beamed broadly and waved as he descended from the plane, and managed to keep his skullcap from flying off in a brisk breeze - unlike his arrival on his first foreign trip in Germany last year.

Thousands of people lined the motorcade route from the airport to downtown Warsaw, a large crowd by European standards for a visit by the Catholic leader but small compared to the hundreds of thousands who turned out when John Paul flew into Warsaw in 1979 for the first time since assuming the papacy.

Among them were 41 elderly Polish Catholics who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust and have been honored by Israel as "Righteous Among the Nations." As Benedict was driven by, he clasped his hands and nodded to the group.