A possible visit to Poland and the progress of the canonization
process of John Paul II were discussed when President Bronislaw
Komorowski had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican in Rome
on Saturday.
Poland’s head of state and the Pontiff met on the 32nd anniversary of JP II being elected Pope.
President
Komorowski said that the invitation to Poland was “always open” to the
Holy Father, who visited Poland in 2006, on one of his first trips
abroad after becoming Pope in 2005.
Vatican sources told the PAP
news agency, however, that another visit to Poland by Pope Benedict was
unlikely in the near future since his last trip was only four years
ago.
Komorowski told journalists after the meeting that a theme
of their, over half an hour, talk was “reconciliation and dialogue”,
particularly in connection to German and Russian relations with Poland.
Asked whether the conversation touched on church-state relations in Poland following the conflict over the Smolensk cross,
Komorowski said that, “"There was discussion concerning current
church-state relations but not in the context of the Smolensk disaster”.
On
the beatification of John Paul II - the first major step to sainthood -
Komorowski said: “"We expressed hope for a continuation of the process
and the latest signals show that this process has been speeded up
recently."
Italian media have reported that a miracle by the
Polish Pope - a vital part of the process - will be confirmed “in the
next few weeks”.
After Pope Benedict raised the issue of
improving Polish-Russian relations Komorowski said: “I told the Holy
Father of my firm belief that this is possible, but it will not be easy.
We are trying to mobilize the mechanisms leading to the best relations
with Russia, but it will be a long process, as was the process of
Polish-German reconciliation.”
Komorowski is currently on a three day trip to Italy and his first trip to the Vatican since being elected as president in July.
SIC: TNPL/COM