Pope Benedict XVI: Photo - EPA/ Allesandro di Meo
“I would like to thank Pope Benedict XVI for the many words, gestures and decisions, all of which showed that Poland and the Polish Church had and still have a special place in his heart,” Komorowski said, as cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
The Polish president noted that news of the abdication had come as “a surprise to us all.”
Komorowski thanked the outgoing pontiff for his role in Polish-German reconciliation from the 1960s until the present day, alluding to the trauma of Nazi occupation during the Second World War.
Likewise he thanked Pope Benedict for his apostolic visit to Poland in May 2006, when the pontiff was greeted by millions of the faithful, and Komorowski “above all” offered thanks for the May 2011 beatification of the pontiff's Polish predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
Polish Church defends right to abdicate
Meanwhile, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw, has defended Pope Benedict's decision to abdicate.
“Pope Benedict XVI had the right to abdicate. This is a new situation for the Church, but the decision should be respected,” he said at a press conference on Monday, as quoted by PAP.
“We have not had to face such an event for over 600 years – namely that a pope took the decision to abdicate in a conscious, free manner, following prayers and a thorough analysis of his conscience,” the cardinal added.
He also noted that in the last years of Pope John Paul II's pontificate, the ailing Polish pontiff had held consultations about whether he should continue his ministry.
Cardinal Nycz described Pope Benedict's decision as “manly, wise and brave,” and said that during his pontificate, he had “brought a lot to the Church.” (nh)