Pope John Paul II on Monday concluded the 100th foreign trip of his papacy, a taxing five-day tour of Croatia which brought a message of interfaith dialogue and reconciliation to the predominantly Catholic country and its war-scarred Balkan neighbors.
The ailing 83-year-old pontiff, speaking often in Croatian during whirlwind stops in five towns across the country, lent support to Croatia's bid to join the EU and urged hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to focus on their future, not dwell on their divisive past.
Using the northern Adriatic town of Rijecka as a base, the Roman Catholic leader also visited Osijek and Djakovo in the battle-scarred east and made two others coastal stops -- in Zadar and the historic city of Dubrovnik -- in what was his third visit to Croatia since it broke away from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
Some 100,000 faithful turned out on Monday for a farewell open-air prayer session in Zadar.
"Thank you, the people of Croatia, who welcomed me with open arms and open hearts," the pope said from a boat-shaped stage. "I remember your suffering caused by war which is still visible on your faces and which is reflected in your lives, and I am near to all those who are coping with the tragic consequences of war."
Catholics from as far as neighboring Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Bosnia and Serbia and Montenegro joined in the massive crowds that greeted the pope, brandishing Viva papa flags and ringing church bells in welcome in towns bedecked in the Vatican yellow and white.
"After the trying times of the war, which has left the people of this region with deep wounds not yet completely healed, a commitment to reconciliation, solidarity and social justice calls for courage," the pope said, speaking in Croatian.
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