Prague - Pope Benedict XVI urged Czechs to rediscover their Christian roots at the start of his three-day pastoral visit to the highly secular former communist Czech Republic. "Now that religious freedom has been restored, I call upon all citizens of this republic to rediscover the Christian traditions which have shaped their culture," Benedict said upon his arrival in Prague.
The pope urged believers to make themselves heard in the public arena. "I invite the Christian community to continue to make its voice heard as the nation addresses the challenges of the new millennium," he said.
He also paid a tribute to the clergy persecuted under the former Communist regime, which was ended by the so-called Velvet Revolution in November 1989.
The 82-year-old pontiff acknowledged that he was encouraging faith in the country of 10.5 million where distrust of organized religion is deeply ingrained and church-and-state relations remain strained nearly 20 years after Communism collapsed in then Czechoslovakia.
"The cost of 40 years of political repression is not to be underestimated," the pope said. "A particular tragedy for this land was the ruthless attempt by the government of that time to silence the voice of the Church."
In the year that marks two decades since Communism collapsed in Europe, the pope chose to visit one of the most secular nations on the old continent. According to the latest census, conducted in 2001, less than one third of Czechs said they belong to a church.
"It is a waste of money," said Eda, 55, an unemployed Prague resident who declined to give his last name. "It could have been used in a more sensible way now during the economic crisis."
"It is nice that he came but not because of me. I am an atheist," said Lada Havlickova, 34, a mother of two on parental leave.
Czechs began losing faith since the 19th century when the leaders of the Czech national movement began attacking the Catholic Church as a religion that helped the Habsburg dynasty to subjugate Czech lands.
In the first stop of his Czech trip, Benedict XVI paid tribute to the Infant Jesus of Prague, a wax statuette which is revered by Roman Catholics worldwide.
But many Czechs have no knowledge of the effigy. It was brought to Prague in 1628, the period of a Catholic drive portrayed by 19th- Century Czech patriots as the darkest time in the nation's history.
Benedict knelt before the statuette and presented it with a golden crown as Catholic families crowded the Baroque-style Church of Our Lady Victorious where it is located.
The pope was seen off at Rome's Ciampino Airport by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, at a time when relations between the Italian government and the Vatican have been tense. It was their first meeting since Berlusconi was first ensnared in a sex scandal several months ago.
In Prague, the pontiff was greeted on the tarmac at Prague International Airport by an honour guard and welcomed by President Vaclav Klaus and Prague Archbishop Cardinal Miloslav Vlk.
He received a warm if modest welcome from believers, including tourists, in the streets of Prague. "Long live the Holy Father," said a group of Slovak believers, hailing him in front of the church where the Infant Jesus figurine is placed.
Later Saturday, the pope is due to pray in the country's most admired house of worship, St Vitus Cathedral, which has been a subject of a nearly 17-year-old legal battle between the Roman Catholic Church and the state.
In a highlight of the tour, Benedict XVI is to celebrate Sunday mass in Brno, the Czech Republic's second largest city.
Around 9,000 Slovaks and 1,000 Poles and several hundred Germans and Austrians are expected to be among the estimated 100,000 participants, the organizers said.
On Monday, the pontiff is set to honour the Central European nation's patron saint, St Wenceslas, in Stara Boleslav outside Prague. He is expected to address an estimated 50,000 people at the site.
The papal visit has brought renewed attention to the long-standing sore points between the Czech Republic and the Vatican, including Prague's failure to ratify a treaty with the Holy See.
Such issues are not to be "officially" discussed, according to Church officials. But Prime Minister Jan Fischer said that he is to "touch on" the concordat when meeting Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's Secretary of State, later Saturday.
