For the first time the WYD cross will make its entry into a parliament. The historic event will take place in Germany, on a date still to be determined. At least this seems to be the promise that Wolfgang Thierse, President of the German Federal Republic, made to Msgr. Heiner Koch, general secretary of the World Youth Day, in the course of a meeting in Cologne. “We are delighted that there is this possibility in Berlin”, declared WYD secretary Georg Austen, of the German Episcopal Conference, “because the pilgrimage of the WYD cross is very important for us in our preparations for this event”. So on the occasion of the WYD in Cologne in 2005, the WYD cross will have the Bundestag as one of its stopping-off points. The itinerary made by the cross in Europe, and the response it has encountered in European dioceses, aroused great interest in Thierse. After having traversed England, Wales and Scotland, Italy (Alto Adige), Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia Herzegovina and Sarajevo, the cross will arrive in Germany on 4 April, Palm Sunday. The presumed period of its arrival in Parliament is January 2005, on a date still to be established, since the calendar of the sessions has not yet been fixed.
