The Pope has addressed more than 2 million people in Krakow, Poland for the nations largest open-air Mass.Pope John Paul II warned Poles of dangers posed by "freedom without responsibility" in the post-communist era.
The pope, seated as he spoke from raised dais to the vast crowd, exhorted his countrymen not to separate their faith from their politics.
"When the noisy propaganda of liberalism, of freedom without truth or responsibility, grows stronger in our country too, the shepherds of the church cannot fail to proclaim the one fail-proof philosophy of freedom, which is the truth of the cross of Christ," the pope said.
The crowd responded to his homily with chants of "Thank you."
Speaking generally about the threats of the modern age, the pope warned that modern man often "lives as if God does not exist," referring to genetic engineering and euthanasia
"He claims for himself the creator's right too interfere in the mystery of human life. He wishes to determine human life through genetic manipulation and establish the limit of death," said John Paul, who beatified three Polish priests and a nun during the Mass.
Overflowing the vast Blonia meadows, Polish faithful arrived throughout the night to see their favorite son on what many fear will be his last pilgrimage home.
As John Paul circled the crowd in the popemobile, pilgrims sang choruses of "Poland loves you, Krakow loves you," a song written for a planned Mass at the meadows in 1999 that the pope canceled due to a sudden flu.
PA