Swords and Scallops

Pope Benedict XVI will arrive tomorrow in his predecessor's homeland Poland, where a new government's insistence on conservative Roman Catholic social policies has sparked protests.

More than 90 percent of Poles are baptized Catholics, and the church's influence is greater than in most European countries. Now the church has acquired an indirect role in government, after the ruling Law and Justice party this month formed a coalition with a Catholic-affiliated grouping that has called for curbs on gay rights.

``The church became a mediator during the communist era and to an extent still feels responsible for telling society what to do,'' Reverend Adam Boniecki, editor-in-chief of Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny, said in an interview in the city of Krakow.

The papal tour, only Benedict's second foreign trip in his year as pontiff, will be watched on television by as many as 80 percent of Poles, according to a survey published by the newspaper Rzeczpospolita May 20, while more than 1.5 million worshippers are expected to attend mass in Krakow.

Benedict, 79, the first German to become pope since the 11th century, was elected by his fellow cardinals after John Paul II died in April last year and has had a difficult act to follow, particularly in the eyes of the former pope's compatriots...