An enormous cross inaugurated by John Paul II at Piłsudski Square in Warsaw during his first Mass in his homeland, on 2 June 1979, mysteriously began to burn during the night to Saturday.

The fire has made a profound impression. A cross does not begin to burn of its own accord. The fire is said to have started at 03.00 at night, at the same time as Jesus gave up the ghost.

The cross stands outside the Maximilian Kolbe Church, named after the Polish Franciscan monk who gave his own life for a man condemned to death in Auschwitz on 14 August 1941.

Thus, several threads in Polish history converge at this site and render the fire eerie.