Pope Cheered in Luxembourg, Belgium

ECHTERNACH, Luxembourg —  Appearing deeply touched by the most vocally enthusiastic crowds he has yet seen during his Benelux pilgrimage, Pope John Paul II stirred rousing cheers and applause Thursday in Luxembourg and Brussels by extolling traditional Roman Catholic values as a haven in the modern world.

More than three times the population of this small medieval town near Luxembourg’s border with West Germany lined its cobblestone streets and packed the plaza of the Basilica of St. Willibrord to hear him. An open-air Mass in Luxembourg city a few hours earlier drew an estimated 45,000 people, more than 10% of the tiny country’s population.

In Brussels, hundreds of thousands lined the paths of his motorcade and packed downtown Jubilee Park, where the pontiff drew a roar of approval when he kissed the ground.

His message was a familiar one, probably most succinctly expressed here when he met with about 7,500 singing, whistling, clapping and dancing youths, some of whom had sent him searching questions involving human sexuality, particularly concerning divorce and the celibacy of priests.

The pontiff did not refer directly to the divorce rate in Luxembourg, one of the highest in Europe, where one in three marriages are dissolved.

‘Fidelity Until Death’

But in defending the church’s obligation of “marital fidelity until death,” the pontiff said, “Breaking the sacred bonds of matrimony creates disorder and disfigures the image of God in man.”

Speaking of men who accept priestly vocations, he said, “Those who grasp the grandeur of this vocation will also realize the reasons for priestly celibacy,” notably to leave them “free from any attachments other than those of serving Christ.”

In another address to the crowd at his Luxembourg outdoor Mass, celebrating Ascension Day in the religious calendar, John Paul said: “People today have been dazzled by progress and prosperity. . . . They accept secularization.”

Man’s “blindness,” he said, “leads him to cherish illusions and to make idols of earthly realities, which results in deep disillusionment and suicidal behavior.” Only with faith in God--at work, in marriage and in the family--can man find joy and peace, he said.

The pontiff’s traditional ground-kissing ceremony, a ritual that he repeats every time he lands in a country that he has not previously visited as Pope, was given an unusual twist Thursday night in the Belgian capital.

Confronted with an almost entirely Roman Catholic nation that is divided--sometimes bitterly--on linguistic grounds, the Pope chose to skip the usual formal airport welcoming ceremonies because Brussels’ international airport is in a Dutch-speaking Flemish area outside the city, and kissing the ground there might have angered the French-speaking Walloons.

Instead, his chartered jet from Luxembourg landed on the military side of the airport, and he transferred quickly and unceremoniously to a helicopter that carried him into the city, where both languages are spoken. Welcomed at Jubilee Park by King Baudoin I, John Paul administered the traditional kiss to the ground.

Here in Echternach, whose reconstructed basilica was demolished by German artillery fire from hills overlooking the town during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, John Paul clearly was mindful of World War II but did not discuss it directly.

Bitburg, West Germany, where President Reagan’s visit to a World War II German cemetery aroused controversy less than two weeks ago, lies only 13 miles away, and the grave of American Gen. George S. Patton is in an American military cemetery just five miles distant.

Noting that his young audience included Germans, Belgians and French as well as Luxembourgers, he urged that they “look to the future and not to the past” in working together “to help in building a better world.”

The young people, many of whom said they were upset by the indifference shown to the pontiff at a similar but lightly attended youth rally in Amersfoort, Netherlands, two days before, gave him one of the most prolonged ovations in the memory of veteran members of the papal entourage.

“Of course we’re aware of what happened to him in Holland,” said Stefan Klein, 15, of nearby Trier, West Germany. “I think all of us wanted to give him an especially warm welcome because of that.”

The pontiff will remain in Belgium, the last leg of his pilgrimage, for five days before returning to Rome on Tuesday.