Pope seeks forgiveness for cruelty at Auschwitz

Auschwitz (Poland), July 29 (IANS/AKI) Pope Francis on Friday asked God to forgive those responsible for the World War II killings of over a million people at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

He made the comments during a visit to the German Nazi death camp in southern Poland.

“Lord, have mercy on your people. Lord, forgive us such cruelty,” Francis wrote in the Guest Book of the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum.

Francis visited the former concentration camp near Krakow as part of his five-day trip to Poland for the World Youth Day celebrations being held in the city and attended by 1.5 million pilgrims from around the world.

The Pope toured the camp on foot alone and in silence, with his head bowed.

During the visit, he met and blessed camp survivors and placed a candle at the Death Wall, where prisoners were executed by the Nazis.

A total 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, died at Auschwitz-Birkenau in what was Nazi-occupied Poland.