Poles celebrated the 25th anni-versary of John Paul II's papacy yesterday, an occasion for the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation to honor its favorite son's role in the fall of communism and his enduring influence in his homeland.
Concerts, television specials and prayers for the frail 83-year-old pontiff's health were among the events nationwide intended to pay tribute to Karol Wojtyla, the former cardinal from the southern Polish city of Krakow who became pope in October 1978.
The anniversary gave Poles a chance to reflect on a turbulent quarter-century, especially the peaceful collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 that owed much to the pope's untiring criticism and moral authority.
"This anniversary makes clear to Poles how big a role the pope has played," Janusz Krupinski, who met Wojtyla during a 1957 hiking trip and still keeps in touch with him, said.
As the pope has grown increa-singly frail, suffering from Parkinson's disease and a hip ailment, few have followed his condition more closely than his fellow Poles.Prayers for the pontiff's health were the "obvious" theme for this week's Sunday services, said church spokesman Reverend Jozef Kloch.
When John Paul first visited Poland as pope in 1979, communism reigned across Eastern Europe and not even the few dissidents believed it could be easily defeated. Then, the pope rallied hundreds of thousands in Warsaw with a sermon urging his compatriots to "renew the face" of Poland.
Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity worker movement that ultimately toppled communism, says Wojtyla's election to papacy and that 1979 pilgrimage to his homeland gave Poles the courage to rise up.
"The pope started this chain of events that led to the end of communism," Walesa said in a telephone interview.
"Before his pontificate, the world was divided into blocs. Nobody knew how to get rid of communism. He simply said: Don't be afraid, change the image of this land," said Walesa.
While the actual Oct. 16 anniversary is on Thursday, the main Papal Day celebrations were set for yesterday -- prayer vigils, exhibits and even a hike to Mount Leskowiec, a favorite destination of the young Wojtyla.
Polish television planned a prime-time evening show with papal friends such as Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, his successor as Krakow bishop, and writer Marek Skwarnicki, who wrote the preface to a recently published book of the pope's poetry. In the buildup, newspapers have inserted postcards addressed to John Paul for readers to send greetings.
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