A fruitful meeting” “

Time is running short as the organizers of WYD 2005 continue to tackle the formidable logistic details of the great youth jamboree in Cologne. From the meeting in Bernsberg emerged the probability that the number of participants at the Cologne event will be higher than that hitherto predicted: up to one million young people from all over the world. The chosen area of Poller Rheinwiesen is too small to contain so huge a crowd, so various other possible solutions are now being considered. In the meantime, on 11 January, John Paul II received the archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner , in private audience in the Vatican. In a statement released on 23 January, the cardinal noted: “The Holy Father was visibly impressed by the intensive work of spiritual and organizational preparation for this great event of the Church, to be held in the archdiocese of Cologne and in Germany. He also showed how moved he was by the commitment of the city of Cologne and the other competent authorities, even the Carnival of Cologne, which with its slogan this year is giving its welcome to the youth of the world”. From a logistic point of view, according to what was reported by a spokesman of the WYD office to the German Catholic press agency KNA on 25 January, the possibility of the inaugural ceremony being held in three different venues: Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf, is being examined. But nothing has yet been decided, stressed the spokesman. The presence of the Pope at the inauguration on 16 August is not planned, since John Paul II will arrive two days later, making a pilgrimage by car through Cologne to the relics of the Three Magi venerated in the city’s Cathedral. volunteers sought. On the official site of World Youth Day (www.wjt2005.de) the organizers invite volunteers to participate in the realization of the event also at the liturgical level: short-term volunteers are sought for the liturgical celebrations, choristers from parish choirs, altar boys, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, confessors and choirs for liturgical animation. In the meantime the campaign is continuing in the hunt for volunteers to act as stewards and for other activities during the WYD. To this end, a television spot has been produced, and was transmitted on various occasions also during the Christmas holidays. THE WYD ANTHEM. “Do we bet that the anthem of the youth meeting in Cologne has got what it takes to be as easy on the ear as the anthems of previous World Youth Days?”: that’s the challenge taken on by Gregor Linßen, the 39-year-old singer-songwriter from Neuß who composed “Venimus adorare eum”, the song chosen from 250 other works sent in from all over the world. According to the composer, the official anthem of Cologne has everything going for it. But Linßen did not limit himself just to writing a catchy tune: he also wanted to focus attention on the content of the WYD slogan, “precisely because this youth meeting is characterized by its contents”, he explained, “rather than by its outward aspects”. The original song was however altered a bit – both in its music and in its words – before becoming the anthem officially presented in November 2004. Variations were necessary especially to permit translation into the other official languages of the event. THE CROSS AT THE Bundestag. On its arrival in Berlin on 24 January, the WYD Cross made its entry into the Bundestag, the federal parliament. The volunteers of the WYD office first carried the Cross past the Humboldt University and then through the Brandenburg Gate, accompanied by numerous students. They then arrived at the Bundestag, and handed over the symbol of the Pope’s meetings with the young to the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Thierse, member of the Social Democratic party (SPD). With its three-day stop in the Bundestag (from 24 to 27 January), said Thierse, “we wish to say publicly that as MPs we support the WYD event”. “The WYD” – he continued – “is an event of the universal Church and an occasion to represent Germany in the world, demonstrating our own hospitality. The great event is proof of the fact that Christianity is not dying but still possesses full vitality”. The chairman of the commission for youth ministry of the German Bishops’ Conference, Monsignor Franz-Josef Bode, present at the handing over of the Cross, declared that “at first sight, seeing the Bundestag and the Cross together is like seeing two opposing worlds”. But if “the State assumes its force for good” and “the Cross is not removed”, “politics and religion can meet together in a fruitful way”. Bode urged the young to “get involved in society and in politics” and bring their talents and gifts to bear on them. At the same time he asked politicians to take heart from the young and “let themselves be inspired by the politics of justice, peace and responsibility for the creation”. On 27 January, the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, the Cross was taken to the former concentration camp at Ravensbruck: the WYD Cross is continuing its pilgrimage of reconciliation.