From the S&S archives:
200,000 see pope hold Mass at Mainz-Finthen Army Airfield

MAINZ, Germany (S&S) — A patient, rain-soaked crowd of more than 200,000 gave Pope John Paul II an exuberant welcome at the Mainz-Finthen Army Airfield here Sunday afternoon on the second day of his five-day, seven-city West German visit.

The 60-year-old pontiff, appearing a little tired, was slightly behind schedule when his olive-green helicopter touched down at 4:14 p.m. Three aircraft preceded him carrying his Vatican staff, press corps, bodyguards and security men.

He quickly climbed aboard a bubble-top white Mercedes Benz vehicle and rode through a cheering crowd that was bundled in red and yellow rain slickers and plastic bags. Many had waited since early morning, munching soggy sandwiches and braving biting winds, for a glimpse of the Roman Catholic leader.

In his message to the worshippers — more than 6,000 of them Americans — the pope recalled the suffering of his Polish homeland and appealed to world leaders to respect human rights and religious freedom as laid down in the Helsinki accords now under review at an East-West conference in Madrid.

The pontiff denounced imperialism, aggression, exploitation and colonialism. Recalling the "atrocious horrors" of World War II, he declared, "This must never happen again" anywhere in the world.

"I say this also as the son of a nation which suffered very much for centuries and was forced to defend these individual and people's rights with all decisiveness."

The pope also urged world leaders to preserve peace by addressing the problems of Third World nations.

The pope celebrated Mass in German at the U.S. Army installation about 30 miles west of Frankfurt. But he offered a special greeting in English to the Americans and thanked them for preparations for his visit.

Several in the crowd carried flags and signs from individual parishes, some of them printed with phrases like, "We love you, Holy Father." The throng had sung hymns for hours while awaiting the pope, who fell behind schedule in Osnabrueck Sunday and was further delayed by strong headwinds.

A security official said portions of the huge yellow and white papal altar had blown away in Saturday night's wind and were repaired. As the pope circled the raised altar swinging an incense burner, his green and white vestments fluttered in the blustery wind and had to be held down by an attendant.

The pope was aided in the Communion service by 50 military chaplains — 35 Army and 15 Air Force — in addition to some 1,500 German priests. All wore liturgical raiment.

Security preparations for the papal visit to the airfield were extensive. Military facility sections of the airfield — with equipment, radio relay towers, control areas, a skeet range, and ammunition storage — were wired off with eight-foot-high hurricane fencing at the expense of the German government. The 8th Combat Aviation Bn moved its Cobra gunships, rockets and TOW missiles to Wiesbaden several days before the visit.

The costs for maintaining the extra operations at Wiesbaden while the Mainz-Finthen helicopters are there will be paid by the German government eventually, officials said. The U.S. is spending $211,000 for the moves and renovations, but will be reimbursed, a spokesman said.

Germans were in charge of all security and were aided by military police. Bomb-detector dogs, an elaborate set of security passes and cordons of security and riot-control personnel were in evidence during the pope's visit.

There are several historical, personal and geographical reasons why Pope John Paul II chose to honor the Mainz area with a visit, said a spokesman for the bishop's office.

The bishopric of Mainz has traditionally been an important area in the Catholic brotherhood and its borders extended to Prague, Czechoslovakia, until Napoleon's time. It was the greatest bishopric or diocese this side of the Alps.

The pope also reportedly admires the 19th century Bishop Wilhelm Emanuel von Ketteler, buried in the Mainz cathedral. Von Ketteler initiated many socially-oriented programs.

The Mainz bishopric has about one million Catholics, and there are millions more in the western area of Germany and eastern France.

The pope is an honorary doctor of the University of Mainz and visited the area and his friend, Mainz Bishop Hermann Cardinal Volk, while he was bishop of Cracow, Poland.

Earlier Sunday the pope celebrated. Mass at Osnabrueck in Protestant north Germany and urged Roman Catholics to strengthen ties with their Christian neighbors.

The pope lauded the Lutheran Church for receiving hundreds of thousands of Catholics driven to the area by the devastation of World War II.

Praying with handicapped people in the Osnabrueck Cathedral after his outdoor Mass, the pope told them, "God has special tenderness for the disabled." His words were translated into sign language.

At a reception for 2,000 hosted by West German President Karl Carstens Saturday evening at Schloss Augustusburg in the Cologne suburb of Bruehl, the pope, who worked in a Nazi forced labor camp as a. Polish youth, told his German hosts the bitter wounds of World War II should be healed for the sake of a united Europe.

Noting that the German people still lived in "painful division" 35 years after the war, John Paul said he hoped "this will find the appropriate peaceful solution in a united Europe.

The pope met privately with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt during the reception. No details were made public of their conversation, reportedly centering on current world problems. Schmidt presented the pope with a 10,000-mark ($5,500) donation from his government for the church's work with the suffering people in the Sahel drought zone in Africa.

The pontiff left the Mainz-Finthen Airfield Sunday evening by convoy to meet with Jewish leaders and his Polish countrymen on the Domplatz (cathedral square) in downtown Mainz.

He will also meet with members of West Germany's sizable population of other foreigners and guest workers as well as Catholic laymen and churchmen before departing Mainz Monday for Fulda.