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Pope Climbs Down from Plane

Aired August 16, 2002 - 14:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: When he got off the plane in Krakow today, Pope John Paul II walked down the steps to the tarmac, foregoing the hydraulic lift that he has used on some other recent trips. He was visibly cheered by the outpouring that welcomed him home to the city where he lived and worked for 40 years, through Nazi occupation, communism, and beyond. Millions of Poles are expected to make a pilgrimage to Krakow during the pope's four-day visit.
CNN's Chris Burns is there as well. It was quite a homecoming, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly was and is. Over my shoulder, Martin, is the Wawel Cathedral where the pope will be retracing some of those steps, where Nazi bombs were falling when he was praying inside at the beginning of World War II, where he became priest, where he became bishop -- and archbishop, just one of the stops over the next four days where he will be retracing the footsteps of his life. And also, as we saw there at the airport when he arrived today, offering a message of hope to his countrymen as they struggle in these post-communist years, trying to adjust to capitalism and democracy.

The pope walking down those steps of the plane, very good indication that he is in relatively good condition to make this trip, 82 years old, suffering increasingly from a debilitating case of Parkinson's Disease and arthritis. Struggling with this as a metaphor, really, for the struggle of his own people.

He gave a very moving speech, greeted with tears and cheers from thousands of people there at the airport, making a speech saying a positive future cannot be built on the impoverishment of man. There is 18 percent unemployment in this country.

He says "I know that many Polish families, especially the largest ones, and many unemployed and elderly people are carrying the weight of social and economic change.

"I wish to tell them all that I spiritually share their burden and their fate," and he brings with him a message of hope.

He departed from his text right around that point to -- looking up at the crowd, and apologizing for the fact that he can't stand up like these other Polish leaders, President Kwasniewski and Prime Minister Leszec Miller, but in a way, using his body as symbolism to show that he is struggling and sharing the burden along with the rest of the Polish people, offering them hope, telling them to stay the course, the government very much, of course, grateful for those words, needing those words as they try to deal with the difficulty of the post-communist years -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Chris, there are so many rumors that are circulating around the pope's visit back to Poland that he may retire, that he may announce that retirement while he is in Poland, that this will be his last trip. Is there anything to substantiate all of this?

BURNS: Well, there is always plenty of speculation during many of his trips. This one, of course, being especially prone to speculation because this could be even, in fact, most likely a final resting place for him somewhere here around Krakow. So there is lots of speculation, but it is generally believed by the -- said by the Vatican and the people here, that he is not the kind of guy, he is not a quitter, and he is somebody who is going to stick it through, but he is here, seen by the people here as making a good-bye of some sorts, and the people here offering their good-bye, millions who plan to show up over the next few days, more than 10 percent of the Polish population to tell him good-bye -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right. Chris Burns, thanks very much. A witness to heartfelt history. We'll stay in touch with you. Thank you.

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