AILING POPE COMPLETES PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES

Lourdes, Aug. 16 (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II arrived in France on Saturday morning, August 14, to begin the 104th foreign voyage of his pontificate: a pilgrimage to the famous Marian shrine at Lourdes.

Landing at Tarbes airport, where he was greeted by French President Jacques Chirac, the Holy Father saluted his French hosts, recognizing that the country was commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Provence.

Speaking in French-- and showing no signs of the difficulty that he sometimes encounters in speaking, because of the advance of Parkinson's disease-- the Pontiff said that he was also mindful of the great saints of France, and hopeful that the country would remember its ancient Christian heritage.

The Pope told his hosts that he had come to France on a personal pilgrimage, "to unite myself with the millions of pilgrims who converge on Lourdes every year, to ask for the help and intercession" of the Virgin Mary.

In his welcoming remarks, President Chirac said that "France and the Holy See are allied in the fight for a world that puts man at the center of every project." He argued that despite religious differences, world leaders can see the emergence of a universal recognition of "the duty to safeguard the weakest and the most vulnerable: a moral imperative that transcends boundaries." Chirac paid homage to John Paul II as "a tireless pilgrim," who "embodies courage and boldness."

The French president spoke privately with the Pontiff for about 20 minutes, at the Tarbes airport, before the papal motorcade made its way to Lourdes, through streets that were lined with cheering crowds, the houses decorated with the blue and white colors of the Lourdes sanctuary and the yellow and white of the papal flag. The Pope went directly to the grotto at Massabielle, where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. There the Pope offered his first "greeting to the sick who come to this shrine, in ever-greater numbers." The Pope remarked, "I share with you a life that is marked by physical suffering, but is no less productive in terms of God's admirable designs."

The Pope did not read his own remarks at the grotto. Instead he knelt alone in prayer, showing signs of the fatigue that he usually feels after a trip. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (and a French native) read the prepared text.

John Paul II, who suffers from advanced symptoms of Parkinson's disease, made it clear that on this, the second trip to Lourdes during his pontificate, he was coming as many other pilgrims come, asking for the Virgin's help to overcome his illness. As he arrived at the shrine, he made the traditional pilgrim's gesture, drinking water from the spring that flows from the grotto at Massabielle.

The Pope's next gesture, after pausing for the Angelus prayer-- was to present a rare papal honor, the golden rose, to the Lourdes shrine. This traditional honor-- a finely crafted piece, nearly 20 inches in height, showing golden roses in a golden vase-- was produced by the Tavani Brothers firm in Rome, and inscribed with the Pope's coat of arms. It will be displayed at the Lourdes shrine, as a lasting sign of the Pontiff's dedication.

From the grotto, the Pope continued on to the Notre Dame home, a 900- bed facility for the sick visiting Lourdes, where he was to remain overnight. After a period of rest there, he returned to the shrine late in the afternoon to lead a period of prayer and meditation, and a Rosary procession from the grotto to the basilica as Lourdes.

As he prayed aloud, Pope John Paul made a remark that prompted an intense reaction in the crowd, saying: "As I kneel here at the grotto of Massabielle, I realize with emotion that I have reached the end of my pilgrimage." Many of the pilgrims who heard him believed that the Holy Father was referring to the end of his own life. But Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the director of the Vatican press office, later discouraged such an interpretation. Navarro-Valls said that the "end" to which the Pope referred was simply the completion of his pilgrimage from Rome to Lourdes. John Paul II announced that he would offer his Rosary for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and asked the faithful to join him in that intention. As the procession wended its way through the grounds of the Lourdes shrine, the Pope accompanied the thousands of pilgrims in his "popemobile," stopping to offer a meditation for each of the Luminous Mysteries.

Arriving at the Lourdes basilica, the Pope was joined by 11 cardinals and about 70 bishops, surrounded by thousands of other pilgrims, for a short period of prayer. Then he left the sanctuary-- passing through the cheering crowds in his rolling chair-- returning to the Notre Dame home.

John Paul II made a final public appearance on Saturday evening, greeting the participants in a candlelight procession who gathered outside the Notre Dame home to hear his words. Every evening during the summer, pilgrims participate in this procession to the basilica, where they pray the Rosary and renew their baptismal vows. Although he was not able to join them, the Pontiff asked them to pray especially for peace. On Sunday, August 15-- the feast of the Assumption, and the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception-- John Paul II presided at Mass for an enormous congregation of pilgrims at Lourdes. In his homily, the Pope called attention to the special role of women in repairing the problems "of our time, tested by materialism and secularization." The Holy Father told Christian women that "today's society needs the essential values that can only be seen with 'the eyes of the heart.' It is up to you women to be witnesses of that which cannot be seen."

Addressing himself to all the faithful, the Pope said that Christians must "do everything within your power so that life-- every life-- is respected, from conception until its natural end." During his homily the Pope-- who was having obvious problems in making himself understood-- stopped, and could be heard whispering urgently in Polish: "Help me; I must finish." An aide brought a cup of water, and after a few moments the Pope was able to resume and complete his text.

The Sunday Mass, concelebrated by Cardinals Etchegaray, Jean-Marie Lustiger, and Godfried Danneels, took place outdoors, under a brilliant sun. With pilgrims gathering on the field hours before the ceremony, organizers made frequent announcements, in several different languages, warning them to take adequate precautions to protect themselves from the sun. When the Mass ended, the Pope led the faithful in the Angelus. Then he offered his greetings in several languages-- Italian, Spanish, Flemish, German, Polish, and finally French-- and made his farewell, to tremendous applause. The Pope returned to the Notre Dame home for lunch with French bishops and a period of rest, then returned to the Tarbes airport for the return flight to Rome. John Paul II is scheduled to remain at his summer residence in Castel Gandalfo until he makes his next pilgrimage, to the Marian shrine at Loretto, Italy, on September 5.

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