As many as 1.6 million people gathered for a vigil with Pope Francis near Kraków on Saturday evening amid tensions between the pontiff and the Polish government over the issue of refugees.

The Polish prime minister Beata Szydlo was forced to defend her government’s refusal to accept refugees from the Middle East. “Those who criticise Poland for not bringing in immigrants will probably say: Pope Francis came and lectured Poland,” she conceded.

The country had admitted large numbers of Ukrainian migrants and also sent humanitarian aid to the Middle East, Szydlo told Radio Krakow.

“We also need to keep in mind the security of our citizens. My duty is to make sure that Poles are safe in this world increasingly often ruled by terrorism and take utmost care to prevent events here in Poland that could pose a threat to Polish citizens,” Szydlo added.

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In a pointed reinforcement of Pope Francis’s repeated calls for compassion and generosity to refugees, the vigil heard testimony from Rand Mittri, 26, from Aleppo in Syria.

“It may be difficult for many of you to understand the full breadth of what is happening in my beloved country, Syria,” Mitti told the gathering.

“Every day we live surrounded by suffering, by death,” he added. “It is a hard and painful knowing that you are constantly surrounded by violence and bloodshed, and worse, there is no escape, no one to help.”

“I earnestly ask you to pray for my beloved country, Syria.”

In his address, Francis said: “We have come here from different parts of the world, from different continents, countries, languages, cultures and peoples.”

But, he added, “the suffering and the wars that many young people experience are no longer anonymous, something we read about in the papers. They have a name, they have a face, they have a story, they are close at hand. Today the war in Syria has caused pain and suffering for so many people, for so many young people like our good friend Rand, who has come here and asked us to pray for his beloved country.”

When we come in contact with people’s lives, “we feel the need to get involved”, he concluded.

The pope then led the vast gathering in silent prayer “for the sufferings of all the victims of war and for the many families of beloved Syria and other parts of our world”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest As many as 1.6 million people gathered for a vigil with Pope Francis near Kraków on Saturday evening. Photograph: Kacper Pempel/Reuters

The refugee issue, which has been a hallmark of Francis’s papacy, has been an undercurrent to the pope’s trip to Poland. However, until Saturday, the differences between the pope’s and the Polish government’s views had not surfaced in public since his first public words after arriving on Wednesday, when he called for a “spirit of readiness to welcome those fleeing from wars and hunger”.

Saturday’s vigil was celebrated at Campus Misericordiae – the Field of Mercy – in Brzegi, about nine miles from the city centre, with most young pilgrims who are in Kraków for the World Youth Day festival walking there and back.



Even bigger crowds are expected for the pontiff’s final mass of his five-day trip to Poland on Sunday.



More than 350,000 pilgrims from 187 countries have formally registered as participants in World Youth Day, but organisers believe there are thousands more in Kraków unofficially.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Groups of pilgrims walk to the village of Brzegi to hear the pope speak. Photograph: Marcin Obara/EPA

Numbers at Sunday’s mass are expected to be boosted by the presence of Poles from across the country, the most devout in Europe with more than 90% of the population identifying as Catholic and some 40% attending mass at least once a week.

The WYD festival, which was last held in Rio in 2013, has been a major feat of organisation. About 200 schools have been commandeered to provide pilgrims’ accommodation, and 500 parishes enlisted to host young people.

Registered pilgrims are given food vouchers that can be exchanged for meals at designated outlets. The vouchers are specific. “Ticket to obtain a meal, with at least one warm dish, with a calorific value of a minimum of 790 kcals,” read one. Pilgrims reported queuing for up to two hours to collect food.

Despite the mixed weather, spirits have been high. “This is the world we’d like always to live in,” said Gladys Joseph, 20, from Bristol. “There are so many nationalities and people are so friendly. This is how it should be.”

Many are attending talks given by bishops every day, the most popular of which are attracting audiences of up to 20,000 people. Some last for three hours.

Clare Stewart, 32, from Manchester, and her brother Stephen, 25, from Worcester, attended a so-called catechesis focusing on pro-life issues and chastity. “There was a husband and wife among the speakers, who spoke about struggling with an addiction to pornography,” said Clare. “They said, ‘go to confession and you’ll feel it’s been taken off your shoulders.’”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pope Francis waves as he arrives at Divine Mercy shrine. Photograph: Reuters

The siblings also attended a talk by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, from Manila, who spoke of the need for love in a violent world. “Everyone was fired up, buzzing. He got a standing ovation,” said Stephen.

They said Francis had given young Catholics the confidence to talk freely about their faith. “This week will stay with us for a long time,” said Clare.

Earlier on Saturday, the pope visited the Divine Mercy shrine and celebrated mass at the shrine of St John Paul II. The “Polish pope” is still revered by his fellow countrymen and women, while many Polish bishops are uneasy with Francis’s views on issues such as refugees and climate change.

The pope also reflected on his visit to the site of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau at his nightly appearance on the balcony of the bishop’s palace, where he is staying.

“I must tell the truth. Cruelty did not end in Auschwitz-Birkenau,” he told crowds on the street below. “In today’s world there is still cruelty. We can say that we witnessed atrocities 70 years ago. People were executed by firing squad and suffocated in gas chambers.

“But today, in so many places in the world where there is a war going on, the situation is exactly the same. This is the reality.”