Poles worried, proud of Pope John Paul II
Throughout this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country, church leaders, former school chums and well-wishers cheered the former Karol Wojtyla, the cardinal whose Oct. 16, 1978, election as pope strengthened an oppressed nation.
Churches and central squares were festooned with yellow papal banners as Poles expressed their affection for John Paul in Masses, concerts and national television specials.
The pope briefly addressed his countrymen in a live television feed from the Vatican. The smiling 83-year-old pontiff, his hands trembling as he sat in an armchair, expressed gratitude for his long tenure.
"God allowed me to see the 25th year of the pontificate," he said in Polish. "Thanks to God, thanks to the people."
That set off cheers from the thousands gathered to watch him on a huge screen in Krakow's Market Square.
"It's such a surprise, he did it just for us," said teary-eyed hairdresser Krystyna Pawlak, 48. "You can really feel we are one nation, he and us."
Polish state television dropped plans for a longer prerecorded message by the pontiff after he agreed to appear live.
"I prayed for his health and that he could lead the Catholics for as long as possible. Let our Rosary prayers give him strength," said Kazimiera Koczur, 58, who owns a sporting goods store in the mountain town of Wadowice, where the pope spent his youth.
The anniversary gave Poles a chance to reflect on a turbulent quarter-century, especially the peaceful collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 that owed much to the pope's moral authority.
In a special anniversary Mass, Cardinal Jozef Glemp praised the pope for "undoubtedly" inspiring the fall of communism with remarks made during John Paul's first papal visit to his native land in 1979, a year before the Solidarity movement took shape.
"We remember the words of the pope from the first pilgrimage (to Poland) in 1979 when he said: 'Let the spirit come down and renew the face of this land,"' Glemp told worshippers in the small, baroque St. Mary's church in Warsaw.
Glemp also prayed for the pope's health, and lashed out at the media for its "superficial" portrayal of the pope.
"Popular media focus their interest on the illness and difficulties of speech of the Holy Father, as if they were waiting only to see when he is going to close his eyes," he said.
Lech Walesa, the founder of the Solidarity worker movement that ultimately toppled communism, credited John Paul with giving Poles the courage to rise up.
"The pope started this chain of events that led to the end of communism," Walesa said. "Before his pontificate, the world was divided into blocs. Nobody knew how to get rid of communism.
"He simply said: Don't be afraid, change the image of this land."
At the Vatican, the pope referred to homeland celebrations during his regular weekly address to the faithful from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square.
"With gratitude I entrust to the Holy Mother the organizers and participants of various religious and cultural events, prepared for this occasion," he said in Polish.
As the Thursday anniversary of his election neared, John Paul also recalled his first Sunday appearance at St. Peter's as pope, when he told young Roman Catholics they were the future of the church, and his hope.
"I must recognize that the response of the young has been truly encouraging," he said in a hushed voice, pausing several times to catch his breath. "Today, I want to thank them for having always been close to me during these years, and I want them to know that I continue to count on them."
He was interrupted several times by applause -- including once after sneezing.
The prayers and greeting were broadcast on Polish television, and old friends anguished at the sight of the pope's frailty, remembering the youth they took high school exams with 60 years ago.
"It is such a day when memories come back," said Stanislaw Jura, 84, a former schoolmate now living in Krakow. "I remember him as a strong, healthy man. And when I see him now, my heart fills with sorrow."
Many of his school and university friends gathered in Krakow, where John Paul was ordained and spent 40 years before becoming pope, to celebrate and watch the pope speak.
"I wish him health. His voice is sometimes weak, sometimes strong," said Karol Hagenhuber, 84, one of the five surviving high-school classmates of the pope. "You never know what to expect. Even he doesn't know."
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Investigators inspect the wreckage of a Metra commuter train that derailed on Chicago's South Side.
Page 2 briefNATION
'KILL BILL' IS NO. 1: It was payback time for Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman at the box office as their vengeance saga "Kill Bill -- Vol. 1" opened in first place with $22.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The previous weekend's No. 1 flick, "The School of Rock," slipped to second place with $15.4 million. The Coen brothers' romantic comedy "Intolerable Cruelty," starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones, debuted at No. 3 with $13.1 million.
"Good Boy!", a family flick featuring the voice of Matthew Broderick as a talking dog from outer space, premiered in fourth place with $13 million. The weekend's other new wide release, the horror tale "House of the Dead," opened at No. 6 with $5.5 million.
In limited release, Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" had an exceptional debut, taking in $591,390 in 13 theaters for a whopping $45,492 average. The dark murder drama starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon expands to more theaters this week.
Playing in 3,102 theaters, "Kill Bill" had a solid $7,312 average.
The overall box office rose, with the top 12 movies grossing $98.7 million, up 6 percent from the same weekend last year.
The opening installment of "Kill Bill," director Tarantino's first film since 1997's "Jackie Brown," did well enough to encourage distributor Miramax over prospects for "Vol. 2," due in theaters next February.
Tarantino and Miramax chose to chop "Kill Bill," a martial-arts epic with a three-hour running time, into two parts rather than dish it out to audiences in one big gulp.
Exit polls indicated 90 percent of the audience the first weekend wants to see "Kill Bill -- Vol. 2," said Rick Sands, Miramax chief operating officer.
"The gamble paid off," Sands said. "We think it was a smart decision to split the movie."
"Kill Bill," whose two parts cost a total of $65 million to make, also will be released to home video and pay television in two installments, giving Miramax a double revenue stream in those markets, Sands said.
An R-rated film awash in comic carnage including bloody maimings and beheadings, "Kill Bill" stars Thurman as a former assassin out for revenge against her old employer and his team of killers for hire.
While far from a blockbuster debut, "Kill Bill" delivered solidly at the box office for a genre picture steeped in violence, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
"'Kill Bill' is a very specialized film. It appeals to an important segment of the audience, but kind of a limited audience," Dergarabedian said. "Grandma does not want to see 'Kill Bill."'
The weekend's other wide-release debuts also had niche audiences. While "Intolerable Cruelty" had Clooney and Zeta-Jones' star power, it appealed to fans of the Coens' off-kilter sensibilities rather than a mainstream crowd.
"This was a very different picture from the normal, broad, Friday night movie," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which released "Intolerable Cruelty."
MGM's "Good Boy!" grabbed the family audience, which it has largely to itself until the holiday surge of family flicks hits in early November, said Erik Lomis, the studio's head of distribution.
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