Mateusz Morawiecki was speaking at a ceremony in Warsaw at which the German embassy handed over a fragment of the Berlin Wall on the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Polish-born pope.
Morawiecki said: "John Paul II, our great, wonderful countryman, changed the history of the world. It is thanks to him, thanks to Solidarity, that communism collapsed and we have been able to create a free Poland over the years. We all owe him boundless gratitude.”
The ceremony was attended by the German ambassador to Poland, Rolf Nikel, who said his country wanted “to thank Poland and John Paul II for their contribution to the fall of the Berlin Wall."
"Today we pay tribute to one of the greatest Polish figures of all time. The man of the century," Nikel added.
Monday marked exactly 100 years since Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyła, who in 1978 became Pope John Paul II, was born in the southern Polish town of Wadowice.
The late pope is regarded by many as playing a key role in the rise of the Solidarity pro-democracy movement in Poland and the subsequent collapse of the communist regime.
John Paul II led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005 and was declared a saint in 2014.
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said on Monday that thanks to the late pope, a “bloodless revolution” took place in Poland when the country overthrew communism in 1989, and “Central and Eastern Europe set off on a march toward freedom.”
(pk)
Source: PAP/ Polish Radio