Pilgrims arrive in Poland for Pope Francis' visit

(26 Jul 2016) Thousands of young pilgrims gathered in southern Poland on Tuesday ahead of a visit by Pope Francis for the World Youth Day (WYD) event. Many visited the memorial site of the former German Nazi Auschwitz death camp where Nazi Germans killed some 1.1 million people, mostly Jews from across Europe, during World War II. Pope Francis will pray at the Death Wall in Auschwitz, where Polish resistance fighters were executed in summary procedures, and also in the death cell of Catholic Franciscan friar St. Maksymilian Maria Kolbe, who in 1941 volunteered to die to save another inmate's life. He was made a saint in 1982 by John Paul II. Preparations for WYD were also well under way at the Jasna Gora monastery in the city of Czestochowa, home to the holiest shrine in predominantly Catholic Poland. The meetings, held every two or three years, were initiated in 1985 by Polish-born Pope John Paul II and aim to inspire young people to follow Christian values. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...