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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Aug-21-2005
By Catholic News Service
WORLD
Pope urges more than a million youths to discover power of faith
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- In back-to-back encounters with more than a million young people from around the world, Pope Benedict XVI urged them to discover the transforming power of the faith and join the "true revolution" of personal holiness. At a World Youth Day vigil Aug. 20 and a closing Mass the next day, the pope preached about the inspiration of the saints and the mystery of the Eucharist, encouraging the youths to change themselves if they want to change the world. "Only from the saints, only from God does true revolution come," he told a vast candlelit crowd spread across a field outside Cologne. The pope was presiding for the first time over World Youth Day, and he did so in a solemn and dignified style. At the vigil, he sat quietly as he watched slow liturgical dancing and listened to Scripture readings. Unlike similar megameetings with Pope John Paul II, there was no papal bantering with the crowd or light-hearted silliness. At the end of the long evening, dressed in a golden cope, Pope Benedict led the crowd in adoration of the Eucharist.
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Pope urges Muslim leaders to help turn back wave of fanaticism
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- Meeting with Muslims in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI condemned terrorism in unusually forceful terms and called on Islamic leaders to help "turn back the wave of cruel fanaticism" in the world. In his talk Aug. 20 in Cologne, the pope emphasized the responsibility of Muslim educators to form younger generations in the Islamic faith and promote attitudes of interreligious cooperation. In particular, he said, the message that every human life is sacred "must be heeded and communicated to others. Should it ever cease to find an echo in people's hearts, the world would be exposed to the darkness of a new barbarism." The 10 Islamic leaders -- seven men and three women -- represented more than 3.2 million Muslims who now reside in the pope's native Germany, about 4 percent of the total population. Most of Germany's Muslims are Turks who came to the country for jobs.
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In Germany, Aussies cheer choice of Sydney for next World Youth Day
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI announced that the next World Youth Day would be held in Sydney, Australia, in 2008, young people from the Sydney Archdiocese were ready. Gathered in front of the papal altar in Cologne, they revealed undershirts telling fellow youths to "Come to Australia!" To drive the point home, they jumped up in unison after the pope made his announcement Aug. 21. The pope's selection of Sydney was an open secret for months, but now it is official, said Nathan Galea, a 25-year-old youth minister from Sydney. "It was awesome. A huge cheer went up, and people are definitely excited about this. Of course, it's also going to be a lot of work," he said. Cardinal George Pell of Sydney said Pope Benedict has told him he wants to travel to Sydney in 2008 "if providence permits." "I'm sure the pope will come if his health holds up, and he's traveling well now," Cardinal Pell said in a phone interview after the closing World Youth Day Mass in Cologne.
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Pope meets seminarians, says vocation is like 'falling in love'
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- Underlining the vocational pull of World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI met with an international group of seminarians and described their calling as a form of "falling in love." The smiling pope spoke in a packed church courtyard in the German city of Cologne Aug. 19 as 2,000 enthusiastic seminarians stood under umbrellas and applauded him. Those who decide to become priests, the pope said, are being asked to "leave everything" in order to follow Christ completely. "The seminarian experiences the beauty of that call in a moment of grace which could be defined as 'falling in love.' His soul is filled with amazement, which makes him ask in prayer: 'Lord, why me?'" he said. "But love knows no 'why'; it is a free gift to which one responds with the gift of self," he said. Church officials have long maintained that World Youth Day celebrations create a vocational ripple effect, as many young men are invited for the first time to look at the possibility of the priesthood.
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In Iraq, young people assemble to join German festivities in spirit
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- More than 1,000 Christian young people assembled in a church in Baghdad, Iraq, to join in spirit with World Youth Day festivities in Germany. Unable to make the journey from Iraq to Cologne, they sent a message to Pope Benedict XVI Aug. 19 saying they were gathering for their own day of "prayer, reflection and joyous celebration" in the city's Latin-rite cathedral. The Vatican, which published the youths' text, said the pope had received their message with "joy and emotion." The Iraqi youths said they wanted to come together in order "to meet the Lord and to ask ourselves what he wants of us in this difficult moment for our country and for us." They asked the pope's blessing for them and for their efforts to celebrate World Youth Day in their homeland. World Youth Day organizers said about 30 Iraqi Christians had obtained visas and made the trip to Cologne, where the pope was meeting with several hundred thousand youths from 193 countries.
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Amid sea of sleeping bags, energetic cheers and a hunt for Communion
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- At 6 a.m., Marienfeld was a sea of sleeping bags as far as the eye could see. The first heads were emerging from bags, and pilgrims were braving the cold to make their way to washstands to brush their teeth. Following an Aug. 20 vigil with Pope Benedict XVI, hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims had spent the night sleeping on plastic sheets spread out on the damp, clay soil of Marienfeld, a former open-cast mining area west of Cologne. Fitzgerald Umah, president of the Catholic student association at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, said the atmosphere had been wonderful, but he had been cold. "We're not used to this down there in Africa," he said. "Luckily, our host families gave us warm clothes, cardigans and blankets." Slowly this huge temporary city came to life, and pilgrims began to make their way to the stands where they could get breakfast: a can of Mediterranean salad, yogurt, rye bread and margarine. Morning prayers came and went, and most pilgrims did not take much notice. They were waiting for the arrival of the pope, who was cheered energetically as he came in the popemobile.
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Pope pledges ecumenical progress, says unity does not mean uniformity
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- Meeting with Protestant and Orthodox leaders in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI pledged to move ecumenism forward during his pontificate, saying he realized that many Christians expect "concrete steps to bring us closer together." While he reaffirmed the church's belief that unity already subsists in the Catholic Church, the pope said that does not mean eventual communion must bring uniformity in theology, liturgy and discipline. The model should be "unity in multiplicity and multiplicity in unity," the pope told some 30 non-Catholic representatives in Cologne Aug. 19. The cordial, 30-minute encounter took place in the Catholic cardinal's residence in the city center, where the pope was residing during his four-day stay.
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For some World Youth Day pilgrims, bumps in the road mark journey
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- A woman from Los Angeles dragged her heavy suitcase through Marienfeld, the huge papal Mass site outside Cologne. Her assigned seating was far away, through masses of people. The suitcase was impossible for her to carry on her own, so she asked for help. First she sought help from Germans. "You may have a problem, but I have a much bigger problem," said a middle-aged man. "Your dirty shoes are on my sleeping bag." "We can't leave our posts, sorry," said one security guard, as thousands of pilgrims streamed past. "Look for the Salvadoran flag, ask the Salvadorans; they always help," said another passer-by, a woman, who offered to go toward the nearest flag to get help. The nearby group from the Archdiocese of San Salvador was celebrating Mass, but sent someone to help the woman. "For us, faith is not an empty phrase," said Karla Martineo Herrera, 22, of Holy Family Parish in San Salvador. "Our nation carries the name of our savior, Jesus Christ, and so we feel a special responsibility to carry his message throughout the world and to act accordingly."
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Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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