Visiting Poland last week, Pope Benedict XVI drew on Poles' history, their tragedies and their love for Pope John Paul II to call for a future of solid faith, reconciliation and peace.

Arriving in Warsaw May 25, Pope Benedict knew the focus of his audience was on his Polish-born predecessor, and while he constantly referred to his own desire to follow in Pope John Paul's footsteps, he emphasized that the best way to keep his predecessor's memory alive was to believe and act as he did.

"This is no mere sentimental journey, although it is certainly that, too, but rather a journey of faith," Pope Benedict said at the Warsaw airport welcoming ceremony.

And while international focus was on the German-born Pope Benedict May 28 when he visited the Nazis' Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, he referred to his predecessor there as well.

"Pope John Paul came here as a son of that people which, along with the Jewish people, suffered most in this place and, in general, throughout the war," Pope Benedict said. "I come here today as a son of the German people.

"To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man is almost impossible --- and it is particularly difficult and troubling for a Christian, for a pope from Germany," he said, standing at the Holocaust memorial at the end of the railroad tracks inside Birkenau.

Speaking after a prayer service during which the Jewish prayer for the dead was recited, Pope Benedict urged the world to remember the Holocaust as "the abyss of terror" and "unprecedented mass crimes."

Remembering should lead to prayers for "the grace of reconciliation --- first of all from God, who alone can open and purify our hearts, from the men and women who suffered here, and finally the grace of reconciliation for all those who, at his hour of our history, are suffering in new ways from the power of hatred and the violence which hatred spawns," the pope said.

Before arriving in Auschwitz, Pope Benedict spent three days visiting sites dear to Pope John Paul and meeting Polish bishops, priests, religious, faithful and ecumenical leaders.

The pope particularly dedicated May 27 to the life and ministry of his Polish predecessor, starting the day in Wadowice, Pope John Paul's hometown.

During a meeting with about 25,000 people gathered in Wadowice's main square and later visiting the nearby Kalwaria Zebrzydowska shrine, Pope Benedict said he hoped Pope John Paul would be beatified soon. Beatification is a step toward sainthood.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, addressing a May 27 press conference in Krakow, said soon did not mean immediately, especially when the canonization cause involved studying an enormous collection of documents written by Pope John Paul and eyewitness testimony about his life.

Meeting young people in Krakow in the evening, Pope Benedict told them the experience of having had a Polish pope made it easier for the youth of Krakow and of Poland in general to understand the importance of the papacy for the fidelity and unity of the Catholic Church.

Polish police estimated that 600,000 people were in Krakow's Blonie Park for the youth gathering; wide papal smiles greeted their singing, chanting and cheers.

Pope Benedict assured the youths that, like Pope John Paul, "who is watching our gathering from the window of God the Father," he would offer his heart and his hands to help them build their lives on Christ and with Christ.

Except at Auschwitz, where he spoke in Italian and recited a prayer in German, Pope Benedict won the admiration and affection of the crowds by reading the first few lines and the last few lines of his speeches in Polish.

A Warsaw University student, Ewa Dryjanska, said Catholics welcomed the pope's "gesture in entering into their experiences."

"Polish is a hard language, so this is really appreciated," Dryjanska told Catholic News Service May 25. "It's important for Poles, after losing their Polish-speaking pope, to know he's made this effort."

At a May 28 morning Mass in Krakow, where the late pope was ordained to the priesthood and served as archbishop and cardinal, Pope Benedict told an estimated 800,000 people that he had wanted "to breathe the air" of Pope John Paul's homeland, meet his predecessor's fellow Poles and experience their faith, "which gave him life and strength."

Having a local bishop and cardinal become pope, he said, gave Poles a special vocation to be witnesses of faith.

"This vocation of yours is always needed, and it is perhaps even more urgent than ever now that the servant of God has passed from this life," Pope Benedict said. "Do not deprive the world of this witness."

At a May 26 outdoor Mass under a downpour in Warsaw, Pope Benedict asked the crowd, "How can we not thank God today for all that was accomplished in your native land and in the whole world during the pontificate of John Paul II?

"Before our eyes, changes occurred in entire political, economic and social systems," he said. "People in various countries regained their freedom and their sense of dignity."

The key to Pope John Paul's faith was his trust in and total dedication to God, the pope said, adding that honoring his predecessor's memory means living the faith like he did.

After the Mass, Pope Benedict flew by helicopter to Czestochowa to visit Poland's national Marian shrine and meet with seminarians, members of religious orders and members of lay movements.

---CNS