Poland Bows to Late President, Burial Location Altered

Mourners begins to arrive in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw early Saturday, ahead of the national mourning ceremony for the 96 victims of the Polish air disaster that killed President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria. Photo by BGNES

Huge crowds are expected to take part in the memorial service in Poland for the 96 victims of last weekend's plane crash, including Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria and several key public figures.

Each victim will be represented by a huge photograph at the outdoor service while the four-hour service in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square - Warsaw's largest open-air square – is due to begin at noon. The place is the traditional location for large-scale public events. The square saw Polish-born Pope John Paul II celebrating a mass service during his first pilgrimage to his homeland in 1979.

All alcohol sales are banned on Saturday while public transportation and parking are free. Large TV screens have been set up in the square and an adjacent park which is expected to be full of people as well, BBC reports.

A mass on a specially designed stage in the shape of a staircase will be served by Polish bishops and the Vatican envoy, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. After the mass, the coffins of Kaczynski and his wife Maria, who have been lying in state in the presidential palace since Tuesday, will be taken to nearby St John's Cathedral, and then to Krakow after an overnight vigil.

However, Kaczynski and the First Lady will not be to laid rest in Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, which also holds the remains of major historical figures like Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, the post-World War I leader of Poland, and Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski, leader of the government-in-exile during World War II, the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reports.

The two will be buried instead in the cathedral on the Wawel Hill in Krakow over protests against a decision to bury the late President in a historic cathedral alongside monarchs and national icons. The famous Polish director Andrzej Wajda, who authored the motion picture Katyn, said the decision “could cause the deepest splits in Polish society since 1989.”

Meanwhile Polish authorities announced the funeral ceremony is still scheduled to take place Sunday, April 18, despite fears the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland that has disrupted air travel across northern Europe could prevent the arrival of foreign dignitaries.

Some 80 foreign delegations had been due to land at Krakow airport Sunday, and Kaczynski's family have insisted the funeral should go ahead as planned.

The funeral services are going to be attended by Bulgaria’s President, Georgi Parvanov and Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov. The US President, Barack Obama, Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the NATO Secretary General, Anders Fog Rasmussen, are among the confirmed guests. The Polish government said so far there had been no cancellations by foreign leaders.

Bulgaria has declared the day of the funeral, April 18, a National Day of Mourning.

Kaczynski, his wife Maria and 94 others, including many top defense officials and public figures, died last Saturday when their TU-154 government aircraft crashed en route to a war memorial service in Russia to commemorate the Polish victims of the 1940 Katyn massacre.

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