Pope John Paul II accepts invitation for August visit to southern Poland

Pope John Paul II has accepted an invitation to visit Poland, President Aleksander Kwasniewski announced yesterday. "I can confirm that the in vitation was accepted by the Pope," the president said after a 15-minute private audience in the Vatican. This will be John Paul's seventh official visit to his homeland. While a detailed itinerary has yet to be agreed, the Pope is expected to arrive on August 16 and spend five days in the south of the country, mainly in Krakow but also in the Tatra Mountains and at a religious sanctuary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. "This will be a very important pilgrimage for all Poles, especially since many of us didn't believe we would see our beloved Pope again in his homeland," said leading churchman Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek. (Zycie, pp. 1, 3) M.K.