Poland mourns Pope at giant Mass

Poles saw the Pope as both a national and spiritual leader

Some 200,000 Poles have flocked to an open-air Mass in the capital Warsaw in memory of the late Pope John Paul II.

The ecumenical service in Pilsudski Square was charged with historical symbolism, recalling the pontiff's key role in the defeat of communism.

"We have loved a man whose life has reflected a part of our own life," said Poland's Cardinal Jozef Glemp.

On the same spot in 1979 John Paul II held a mass in which he appealed to the Holy Spirit to "renew" the land.

The vast crowd included President Aleksander Kwasniewski, soldiers and schoolgirls, in what the authorities described as a national farewell for a national hero.

"John Paul II now calls on us to unite again, but this time to pray for him, to thank God for the gifts of this Pope, his teachings and the way he lived his life," said Cardinal Glemp, the leader of Poland's Catholics.

The late Pope was born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, near Krakow.