NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      WARSAW (CWNews.com) - The senior papal spokesman said on Tuesday that Pope John Paul II had asked for the rigorous schedule for his upcoming visit to Poland that takes him to 20 cities in 13 days -- June 5-17 -- in order to complete his tour of the country's 40 dioceses.

      Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Holy Father would stress unity and reconciliation among Christians during his trip while also celebrating the advent of the new millennium. Navarro-Valls said the journey would also summarize the Pope's whole pontificate "because of the very many dimensions it has."

      "The ecumenical dimension will be present, the national reconciliation and unity will be present and religious themes will be present," he said. "The trip and the meetings will cross beyond Poland's geographic dimension." The pilgrimage will be the Holy Father's eighth and longest to his homeland, and Navarro-Valls said the Pontiff had insisted on the lengthy and grueling visit despite his age and infirmities.

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