270,000 gather for Benedict's Mass at 'solidarity' site

Pope Benedict XVI today celebrated Mass for an estimated 270,000 people in a rain-drenched Warsaw square where his predecessor, John Paul II, inspired Poland’s Solidarity movement against communist rule in a historic 1979 visit.

People lined the street to wave and cheer as Benedict’s popemobile passed, and church bells pealed. An aide held an umbrella as Benedict ascended a high Mass platform topped by a 25-metre metal cross.