Pontiff Congratulates Poland on Independence Day

(November 12, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday congratulated Polish citizens on their independence day, calling to mind words of his Polish Predecessor during his 1983 visit to his homeland. Poland celebrated its November 11, 1918, recovery of independence on Wednesday. This day is annually celebrated on to commemorate the anniversary of Poland's assumption of independent statehood in 1918 after 123 years of partitions by Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia.The Holy Father offered them a special greeting at the end of Wednesday’s general audience. He cited Pope John Paul II's words when he arrived to Poland in June 1983: "Kissing Polish soil has a particular significance for me. It is like a kiss given to the hands of a mother, because one's homeland is our earthly mother. Her history is not an easy one ... she has suffered much ... she has as well the right to a special love." Pope Benedict XVI reflected: "May this description of [your] homeland is for you a motive to be grateful for your liberty and an encouragement to work solicitously for your future."