Benedict XVI Celebrates Holy Mass in Palace of Archbishops of Cracow

At 7.30 in the morning Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Holy Mass in the private chapel of the House of the Archbishops of Cracow, the very chapel in which Karol Wojtyła was ordained to the priesthood in 1946. The Pope was accompanied by five cardinals, the religious sisters who used to attend on John Paul II and other members of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz’s household.

The Holy Mass in the chapel at 3 Franciszkańska Street in Cracow was concelebrated with the Pontiff by the following cardinals: Stanisław Dziwisz, Angelo Sodano, Zenon Grocholewski, Walter Kasper, and the Primate of Poland Józef Glemp. Other concelebrants included the auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Cracow, Józef Guzdek and Jan Zając.

The Holy Mass has a solemn and meditative character, KAI was told by Bishop Guzdek. There was no homily but a prolonged moment of absolute silence, during which Benedict XVI remained engrossed in prayer. Like the other Holy Masses during the papal pilgrimage to Poland, the liturgy was celebrated in Latin and Polish. A choir composed of seminarians from the Cracow Seminary was signing during the Holy Mass.

The first reading, an account from the Acts of the Apostles on the appointment of bishops, was read out in Polish. The Gospel pericope, read out in Latin, referred to the Good Shepherd, who will not leave his sheep (Jn 10:12-16).

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