Pope John Paul II Visits Lourdes Shrine

LOURDES, France – A frail Pope John Paul II joined other ailing pilgrims Saturday for a weekend of prayer at a cliffside shrine to the Virgin Mary, where Roman Catholics seek hope, inner peace and miraculous cures.

Church bells rang out as the pontiff passed, hunched over behind the tall windows of his “popemobile.” Cheers broke out as he slowly lifted a hand to greet crowds waving the Vatican’s yellow-and-white flag.

At Lourdes’ shrine, the 84-year-old pope was lifted out of his wheelchair and knelt for a moment on a kneeler, trembling as he prayed before the ivy-covered grotto, where Mary is said to have appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858.

Then, following Lourdes’ custom, he sipped a glass of water from the spring that flows underground, believed by many to have curative powers.

Pilgrims from around the world poured into Lourdes, a small town nestled in the Pyrenees, for the pontiff’s two-day visit. Up to 300,000 people were expected, ten times as many as are usually present this time of year.

Though the pontiff had spoken haltingly in slurred French earlier in the day, his prepared speech at the grotto was read by a French cardinal.

“Dear brothers and sisters who are sick, how I would like to embrace each and every one of you with affection, to tell you how close I am to you and how much I support you,” the cardinal said on behalf of the pope.

Lourdes’ grotto is associated with miraculous cures for the sick. Thousands of people have claimed to have been healed, and the church has recognized 66 claims as official miracles. The Vatican, however, says that the pope is not seeking a cure for his Parkinson’s disease and other health problems.

The pope also visited the sanctuary in 1983 after recovering from a 1981 assassination attempt.

The visit began at the airport in nearby Tarbes, where the pope was greeted by French President Jacques Chirac and his wife, Bernadette, on the red-carpeted runway. The Chiracs kissed the pope’s ring and escorted him into a VIP building.

Then, speaking with difficulty, John Paul reminded France of its Christian roots and talked of visiting the grotto.

“With great emotion I wish to join the millions of pilgrims who come to Lourdes each year from every part of the world, in order to entrust to the Mother of the Lord the intentions which they bear in their hearts and to ask for her help and intercession,” he said.

Chirac spoke of peace, solidarity and the fight against racism and hate, which he said was “so urgent in the face of the rise of fanaticism and intolerance.” France has recently struggled to curb acts of anti-Semitic violence and vandalism at Jewish and Muslim cemeteries.

Hinting at lingering reproach to the United States for launching the Iraq war, Chirac said France and the Vatican together urged “dialogue between cultures as an antidote to violence.”

The pope greeted French officials in red-white-and-blue sashes before being ushered out of the room in a wheeled throne draped in white cloth.

Sun-drenched streets, decked with welcome signs, were lined with excited pilgrims. Police on horseback watched over the crowd, and Red Cross workers set up a yellow tent to help those who might suffer from heat stroke or other ailments on a hot day.

One highlight of the visit Saturday is expected to be a torch-lit procession at dusk – an event that many visitors say is unforgettable. Pilgrims leave the grotto carrying slender white candles and following a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Mary holds a special significance for the pontiff. After he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, John Paul said Christ’s mother “guided” the bullet’s path to save his life.

On Sunday, the pope is to preside over an outdoor Mass in a field. His trip commemorates the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception, the dogma that says Mary was born without original sin.

More than 6 million pilgrims make their way to Lourdes each year. Most are healthy, but the site and its spring water have added meaning for the sick. Pilgrims pour the water into small plastic vials in the shape of the Virgin Mary to take home.