John Paul II's visits to his native country in 1979 and 1983 brought support to the budding solidarity movement and encouraged the growing anti-communist fervor there. In 1979, less than a year after becoming pope, John Paul celebrated Mass in Victory Square in Warsaw and ended his sermon with a call to "renew the face" of Poland: Let Thy Spirit descend! Let Thy Spirit descend and renew the face of the land! This land! These words were very meaningful for the Polish citizens who understood them as the incentive for the democratic changes.
What pope as a native of Poland? What did John Paul II's visits in 1979 and 1983 encourage? How long had John Paul II been the pope in 1979? Where did John Paul II celebrate Mass in Warsaw? What did the Polish citizens understand the subtext of John Paul II's words to be?