Warsaw’s new archbishop has resigned amid a scandal over his cooperation with the communist-era secret police, Poland’s Roman Catholic church said today.

People’s hands flew to their faces and some wept as they witnessed Pope John Paul’s struggle in front of a microphone, where he managed only a few sounds before he gave up and delivered his Easter blessing with a sign of the cross.

Pope John Paul II is planning to make a pilgrimage to Poland, the land of his birth, in June if his health permits it, Poland’s primate was quoted as saying yesterday after returning from a visit to the Vatican.