Pope Francis to Meet the Righteous Among the Nations

KJ, 16 November 2016
On the third day of his visit to Poland for World Youth Days, Pope Francis will visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former German extermination camp. There, he will meet with former camp inmates, with Holocaust survivors and with Righteous Among the Nations.

The Pope will arrive in Oświęcim in the morning of Friday 29th July. He will first visit the Auschwitz I camp where he will pray in front of the "Wall of Death" and in the cell which once held the martyr Saint Maksymilian Kolbe. He will also meet former camp prisoners. He will then visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, where he will lead prayers at the monument in memory of victims of the Holocaust. Following an address, he will meet with Holocaust survivors and with Righteous Among the Nations. 

Amongst the group he will meet will be Righteous from Warsaw, Kraków and Rzeszów - Anna Bando, Alicja Schnepf, Józef Walaszczyk, Stanisław Świerczewski, Tadeusz Burchacki, Tadeusz Stankiewicz, Irena Senderska-Rzońca and Tadeusz Bukowiński. The Pope will speak with each of them personally.

Following his return to Kraków, Pope Francis will visit the University Children's Hospital where he will meet patients and those caring for them. In the evening, together with the youth, he will take part in the Way of the Cross to be held in Kraków's Błonia Park.