From the homily during the solemn Celebration of the Statio Orbis on the esplanade in the centre of Wroclaw. 1 June 1997

"This Congress is part and parcel of the context of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. In the programme of spiritual preparation for the Jubilee, this year is dedicated to special contemplation of the Person of Jesus Christ: "Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, yesterday, today and for ever" (Heb 13:8). So could this year have lacked this Eucharistic profession of faith by the whole Church?"

From the homily on the esplanade in Gorzów. 2 June 1997

"On 16 October 1978, the liturgical memorial of St Hedwig of Silesia, during the Conclave after my election, the Primate of the Millennium said to me: "You must now lead the Church into the new millennium". This is the reason why I have come to Poland. I came for the Eucharistic Congress in Wroclaw. I came to go to Gniezno for the celebrations of the Millennium of St Adalbert. I came on these age-old routes to ask for the grace to be able to fulfil the mission which divine Providence perhaps entrusted to me in the words of the great Primate of the Millennium. But, dear friends, the years are passing and you must beg God on your knees that I can succeed".

From John Paul II's prayer at the shrine of Jasna Góra. Czestochowa. 4 June 1997

""O Mother of God, O Blessed Virgin, by God have you been glorified!".

Mother of Jasna Góra and Queen, I come to you today on a pilgrimage of faith to thank you for your ceaseless protection of all the Church and of myself, especially during the 50 years of my priesthood and those of my service in the See of Peter. With great trust I come to this holy place – on the hill of Jasna Góra, so dear to my heart, to cry out once more: Mother of God and our Mother, I thank you for being the guiding Star of the building of a better future for the world, for being the patroness of the attainment of the civilization of love among the members of the human race. Mother, I humble beseech you, surround with your maternal protection the days and years which still separate us from the Year 2000. I entrust to your intercession the preparation for the Great Jubilee of Christianity. Help all the nations of the world to begin the new millennium in union with Christ, the King of the ages".