BELOW ARE brief excerpts from the Vaticans official translation of Pope Benedicts homily:
“By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty.
“His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God ... Then, too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a ‘rock’, as Christ desired.”