Pope Francis encouraged hundreds of thousands of young people gathered on Sunday in southern
Poland to “believe in a new humanity” which is stronger than evil and refuses to use borders as barriers.
His appeal came at the end of World Youth Day, a weeklong event which draws young Catholics from around the world to a different city every two to three years for a spiritual pep rally.
The youth gathering was Francis’ main focus during his pilgrimage to Poland, but over five days in this deeply Catholic nation he also prayed at the former Auschwitz death camp and implored God to keep away a devastating wave of terrorism. He also held meetings with the country’s political and church leaders.
For a second straight day, a huge crowd filled a vast field Sunday in the gentle countryside outside of Krakow for Francis, who was visiting Eastern Europe for the first time. Security was very high through the pope’s visit, coming at a time of terror attacks in Western Europe.
The faithful had camped out overnight after an evening of entertainment and prayer with the pope there that drew 1.6 million people, according World Youth Day organizers.
Sunday’s faithful numbered at least in the hundreds of thousands, similar to the number seen at the pope’s other public appearances in the past days. The Rev. Federico lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, referred to an estimate by Polish authorities of 1.5 million at Sunday’s closing Mass.