Superstitious pilgrims Collect Water at Pope's Monument
Pastor Dale Morgan
Superstitious pilgrims Collect Water at Pope's Monument*
By KRZYSZTOF KOPACZ
The Associated Press
August 9, 2006; 2:02 PM
WADOWICE, Poland -- Superstitious pilgrims are flocking to worship a new
monument to Pope John Paul II in his hometown, touching the water that
runs over its base and collecting it in bottles in the belief that it
carries magical healing powers.
The Roman Catholic church has not yet proclaimed the water holy, but
since the statue was unveiled in Wadowice in southern Poland on June 30,
believers have been turning the life-sized bronze figure on a granite
base into an informal shrine. The late pontiff was born Karol Wojtyla
here in 1920.
"If the water comes from the papal monument, it is magical to us," said
Stanislaw Unijewski, a 37-year-old electrician who traveled 120 miles
from his hometown of Nysa.
Unijewski and his family dabbed water on their faces and hands, put
their hands on the wet granite base of the monument and collected some
water into a bottle. "We are taking it home as a relic," he said.
Slawomir Piotrowski, 46, traveled across Poland from the northern city
of Bydgoszcz to visit John Paul's hometown. He, his wife and their two
teenage children planned to visit John Paul's childhood home and St.
Mary's Basilica, where John Paul was baptized and served as an altar boy.
But their first destination was the monument, where Piotrowski let the
water flow over his hand before pressing it to his chest, convinced it
will help cure his ailing heart.
"I am a little sick and I'm looking for strength to keep on going," said
Piotrowski. "We all feel this water will give us new strength."
The granite base is topped by a bronze figure of John Paul wearing papal
vestments and a miter, with a staff in his left hand and his right hand
raised as if in blessing.
Superstitious pilgrims from across Europe and beyond have been seen
praying at the monument daily. Many wash their faces and hands in the
cool, crystal-clear water that flows over the dark granite.
Wadowice Mayor Ewa Filipiak said the water was connected to the monument
simply to enhance the granite's gray-brown color, and that authorities
were unaware it would itself become an attraction. It comes from a well
in the town's main square that dates back at least to the 16th century.
"It has turned into an additional and very welcome attraction and
embellishment of this place linked to John Paul II," she said.
Filipiak said hundreds of people visit the town daily, but the fountain
eventually could draw even more people, especially if John Paul, who
died on April 2 last year, is declared a saint. Pope Benedict XVI opened
the beatification process for John Paul last year, waiving the customary
five-year waiting period after his death.
The statue was unveiled by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the archbishop of
nearby Krakow and the longtime personal secretary of John Paul, who is
revered in Poland for helping to inspire the pro-democracy Solidarity
movement in the 1980s that helped end communist rule.
The Rev. Jakub Gil, the parish priest at the Wadowice basilica, said the
church has never declared the water holy, but that it provides a
tangible reminder to many of the great personal charismatic power of the
late pontiff.