Posted on 08/18/2005 3:37:12 PM PDT by NYer
COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- Hundreds of thousands of young people gave Pope Benedict XVI a rousing welcome on the banks of the Rhine River, cheering as he urged them to discover the "liberating experience of the church."
The pope used his first World Youth Day encounter Aug. 18 to cast a wide spiritual invitation, asking youths -- whether baptized or unbaptized, practicing or nonpracticing -- to open their hearts to God.
"Let yourselves be surprised by Christ. Let him have the 'right of free speech' during these days," the pope said.
An estimated 300,000 youths lined the riverbanks, some standing waist-deep in the water. They applauded as the pope passed by and waved the flags of many of the 193 nations represented at the gathering in Cologne, Germany.
The 78-year-old pontiff spoke from the prow of a triple-decker cruiser anchored in the Rhine. He was surrounded by 60 young people who rode with him 10 miles down the river, serenading him with spiritual songs and reading personal testimonials.
Smiling broadly in the sunshine, Pope Benedict waved to the riverside crowd repeatedly and seemed to bask in their enthusiasm. Behind him were five smaller boats full of other youths from several continents.
In his talk, delivered in five languages, including English, he spoke movingly about taking up the "extraordinary spiritual legacy" of Pope John Paul II, who founded World Youth Day in the 1980s.
"He loved you -- you realized that and you returned his love with all your youthful enthusiasm. Now all of us together have to put his teaching into practice," he said.
Pope Benedict made a point of reaching out to those who may have "lost the habit of praying" or "have not yet found a home" in the church.
"To all of you I appeal: Open wide your hearts to God!" he said. "Open the doors of your freedom to his merciful love! Share your joys and pains with Christ, and let him enlighten your minds with his light and touch your hearts with his grace."
When searching for answers in life, he said, people often have to choose between a direction promoted by passions or by the light of conscience.
"Dear young people, the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy, has a name and a face: It is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist. Only he gives the fullness of life to humanity," he said.
In an apparent reference to Asian participants in the youth gathering, the pope offered a special greeting to visitors from the East. He said they represented "so many of our brothers and sisters who are waiting, without realizing it, for the star to rise in their skies and lead them to Christ, light of the nations."
Many of the young pilgrims on the shore listened in small groups with the help of translators. The spirit was lively and informal; some of the German youths wore T-shirts emblazoned with "Benedikt 16" or "Do it, Ratzi!" a reference to his name, Joseph Ratzinger. At one point, a banner criticizing the pope was quickly and quietly removed.
A group of 49 Catholics from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Northglenn, Colo., held aloft a special "flag of honor" bearing the names of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Joey Lukinovich, a student at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, said as the pope's flotilla pulled away: "That was great, just the fact that we could see something as united as this."
Peter Slawek, a young German from Herne, said he thought the most important thing the pope said was "that he had come to kneel down with us" in front of the consecrated host.
Summing up the difference between Pope Benedict and his predecessor, Reinfried Rimmel, a German youth, said simply: "John Paul concentrated more on the relationship with the people. Benedict puts more weight on the message."
The gathering on the Rhine did not feature the long sessions of bantering with the crowd that characterized many of Pope John Paul's World Youth Day encounters. Instead, as the papal flotilla moved down the river, the pope spent time speaking personally to most of the young people who rode with him.
Behind the pope's chair stood the World Youth Day cross, which had to be hastily repaired shortly before the pontiff's arrival, after a gust of wind blew it over and broke off one of the cross arms.
The pope disembarked in the city center and led a procession of youths and church officials to the historic, double-spired cathedral. There, after greeting several disabled young people, he knelt in prayer before the tabernacle for a few minutes.
Then he venerated the relics of the Wise Men, passing under a reliquary in a pilgrimage practice that dates to medieval times. The moment underscored the theme of this year's World Youth Day, "We Have Come to Worship Him," which the pope developed in a talk delivered to a crowd outside the cathedral.
Just as the Magi discovered Christ by following a star, he said, so people are drawn to the faith today from many cultures. The World Youth Day gathering is emblematic of the church in that way, he said.
"Today it is your task to live and breathe the church's universality. Let yourselves be inflamed by the fire of the Spirit, so that a new Pentecost will renew your hearts," he said.
"Through you, may other young people everywhere come to recognize in Christ the true answer to their deepest aspirations," he said.
The pope had a hard time beginning his talk because of the exuberance of the crowd. He laughed as a frustrated Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne tried to quiet the young people's cheering and chanting.
When the pope finished speaking, the cheering started again but died down when church leaders quickly stood to recite a closing prayer.
Then the pope rode in a glass-walled popemobile through the crowded city center, delighting the young people who had waited hours for a chance to see him.
Pope Benedict's first day of his first foreign trip led Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls to draw a comparison.
"John Paul expressed himself in gestures; this pope gives great space to words. This will be a pontificate of concepts and of words," the spokesman said.
Pope Benedict XVI waves to pilgrims from the RheinEnergie boat as he cruises down the river Rhine in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Aug 18, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI arrived on Thursday on his first foreign trip as pontiff to take part in the Roman Catholic Church's 20th World Youth Day in Cologne. (AP Photo/Patrick Hertzog, pool)
"To all of you I appeal: Open wide your hearts to God!" he said. "Open the doors of your freedom to his merciful love! Share your joys and pains with Christ, and let him enlighten your minds with his light and touch your hearts with his grace."
"Let yourselves be surprised by Christ. Let him have the 'right of free speech' during these days," the pope said.
The use of the phrase "the Wise Men" in English or "the Three Kings" in English is not correct in light of the Pope's remarks in German. He consistently said in German "the Holy Three Kings" etc.
I think we Catholics who speak English need to take this up now and say from this World Youth Day on "The Holy Three Kings" or "The Holy Magi" or "The HOly Wise Men". It is a dimension often lost when telling this aspect of our faith. We must reclaim what is holy and proclaim the holiness of those the Church declares Holy, Heilig, Sankt, Saint.
Please remember these young people in your prayers. GG's last email spoke of a sprained ankle and great pain. I suggested that one of the Irishmen might be able to lift the Lebanese waif on his shoulders and carry her to a nearby clinic for xrays and wrap. She chose her group wisely :-)!
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Hard to believe those are pictures of Germany -- it looks like the Ganges!
Me I've got the proverbial sick babe who is sweet as an angel but keeps me up and down a lot.
Yikes!
Please, if you could, pass along this professional advice from me, Nyer:
Ice, elevation...and a nice GENTLE foot rub from one of those nice Irish lads! It'll keep the swelling down! :)
LOL!
Done! Let's hope she heeds it. Thanks for the post.
Oh wow, this is so heartwarming. Thanks.
Awesome stuff! Thanks for posting it, and tell Gipps the Tatted Flyboy says to walk it off! :)
I think she'll like your advice and the Irish "gentlemen" will surely want to comply. :)
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