In Gliwice, John Paul II greets the clergy and people of Silesia and contemplates the pierced Heart of Jesus as the definitive revelation that God is love. Creation and, above all, Christ’s life, death, and resurrection disclose this love as a gift that calls for a response through obedience, fidelity, and the fulfilment of each person’s vocation.

He recalls Silesia’s long Christian tradition and its resistance to atheism and secularization after the war through prayer, church-building, and the defence of families’ rights. In the face of economic hardship and uncertainty among workers and families, he urges the people to keep God at the centre of their lives and to build society on love of God and neighbour, justice, rejection of evil, and the common good.