Pope says would like to visit Auschwitz: Polish president

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Pope Francis wants to visit Auschwitz when he visits Poland in July 2016, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday after meeting the pontiff.

The Argentinian pope also expressed a desire to visit a celebrated Catholic shrine at Czestochowa when he visits the city of Krakow to mark World Youth Day, Duda told reporters, according to specialist Vatican news agency I-media.

The Vatican did not immediately confirm that Francis planned to visit the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, which was visited by both his predecessors, Benedict XVI and John-Paul II, during their respective visits to Poland.

A Vatican statement said the pope and Duda had discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East and Europe's migrant crisis, which is a very sensitive subject in Poland.

More than six million Jews died during the Nazi Holocaust, as survivors revisit Auschwitz on the 70th anniversary of the concentration camp's liberation in January 2015

Janek Skarzynski, AFP/File

The country's ruling Law and Justice party, of which Duda is a member, has been reluctant to take part in an EU-wide operation to absorb some of the refugees arriving in Europe while the Pope has led calls for governments to adopt a more open approach.

Pope Francis wants to visit Auschwitz when he visits Poland in July 2016, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday after meeting the pontiff.

The Argentinian pope also expressed a desire to visit a celebrated Catholic shrine at Czestochowa when he visits the city of Krakow to mark World Youth Day, Duda told reporters, according to specialist Vatican news agency I-media.

The Vatican did not immediately confirm that Francis planned to visit the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, which was visited by both his predecessors, Benedict XVI and John-Paul II, during their respective visits to Poland.

A Vatican statement said the pope and Duda had discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East and Europe’s migrant crisis, which is a very sensitive subject in Poland.

More than six million Jews died during the Nazi Holocaust, as survivors revisit Auschwitz on the 70th anniversary of the concentration camp's liberation in January 2015

Janek Skarzynski, AFP/File

The country’s ruling Law and Justice party, of which Duda is a member, has been reluctant to take part in an EU-wide operation to absorb some of the refugees arriving in Europe while the Pope has led calls for governments to adopt a more open approach.