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Telenews/ANSA via AP Photo
World News

Pope lands in Poland for World Youth Day

Arriving from Rome's Fiumicino Airport, the pontiff was greeted at an airport in the historic city of Kraków by one boy and one girl each dressed in traditional clothing and carrying gifts.

He is in the predominantly Catholic central European country for World Youth Day (WYD), a week-long festival which includes teaching, music and prayer.

AP Photo/Alik Keplicz

Jack Regan, a Diocesan Youth Officer for the Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, is at WYD and he described the scene for Premier, explaining: "Just from where I am now, I can see a group of people playing the guitar, a group of people waving a Spanish flag, another group of people waving a French flag, people swapping things, people taking photographs; it really is just a wonderful atmosphere here.

WFY is thought to be the biggest gathering of young Catholics in the world and it was last staged in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

Ahead of delivering his welcome address during a prayer service on Thursday, the Pope is visiting the Wawel Royal Castle in Kraków on Wednesday afternoon, before speaking before Polish bishops at Wawel Cathedral.

Jack Regan added: "If you grow up as a young Christian - depending on where you are - you can go to a church where you don't see a lot of other young Christians.

"It can feel a bit demoralising, it can feel a bit isolating but if you can to something like this, you get this sense you are not alone."

The Pope's timetable for his visit to Poland also includes a visit to the concentration and extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.

AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

Listen to Premier's Hannah Tooley speak to Jack Regan here.

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