Masses and ceremonies were held in Poland and elsewhere in Europe Sunday to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II.
At a Mass near Krakow, where the pope lived for half of his life, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife sat with hundreds of faithful.
John Paul's former secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, led the early Mass at a sanctuary in Lagiewniki, near Krakow, the BBC said.
"He contributed to the fundamental transformation of the world," the archbishop said. "For that reason history has already called him great."
Afterwards, John Paul's successor Benedict XVI addressed the crowds in Krakow from the Vatican via a satellite TV link.
In Warsaw, Placido Domingo sang a free memorial concert of Verdi's Requiem in the city's main opera house.
The white marble slab covering the late pope's grave in the crypt underneath St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican attracts as many as 10,000 visitors each day, the report said.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
