LetsTravelRome

"Lolek Flame" commemorating John Paul II travels from Rome to Krakow

Mar. 29 (FIDES/CWNews.com) - To mark the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II (bio - news), a "Lolek Flame" was symbolically lit at the tomb of the late Pope in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday and will be carried by athletes to Poland, to arrive in Krakow on April 2, the date of the Polish Pope’s death.

The flame will be carried by military, civilian, and disabled Italian and Polish athletes, passing through Assisi, Loreto, Czestochowa, Wadowice, and finally to a prayer vigil in Krakow. "Lolek" was the name used for young Karol Wojtyla by family and friends. ?The flame set off on Wednesday, March 29, after a blessing by Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) during the general audience in St Peter’s Square. On its path it will stop at the Marian shrine of Loreto on March 30, where there special prayers led by Archbishop Gianni Danzi. Friday, March 31, it will travel from Loreto to Czestochowa, then to the Pope’s birthplace of Wadowice, and on to his diocese Krakow.

In Krakow's Cathedral of Sts. Wenceslaw and Stanislaw the flame will be consigned symbolically to the people of Poland in the person of former personal secretary of the Pope, now his successor as Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. The flame will then be used to light a large brazier of incense and start a prayer vigil to commemorate the Pope’s last moments until the hour of his passing at 9.37 pm on April 2.

The flame will be carried on foot, for a total of about 315 miles (140 in Italy and 175 in Poland), by air, and by road. The initiative has the approval of the Vicariate of Rome diocese and Msgr. Slawomir Oder, the postulator of the cause for the beatification of the late Pope.

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posted by Les Sheppard @ 11:34 AM