In the joy of dialogue ” “

WYD present at the German Evangelical Kirchentag in Hanover (25-29 May) with its own stand to provide information on the event is just one signal of the importance of World Youth Day in Cologne for the ecumenical process in Germany. In this too WYD is in communion with the Pope who in recent days declared that his commitment to Christian unity is a priority. WYD is in fact planning many ecumenical events: from “ecumenical” celebrations and an “ecumenical” pilgrimage to actions of cooperation during the so-called Day of Social Commitment. In the meantime, the artificial hill created in the area of the Marienfeld is almost ready. This is the site of the meeting with the Pope and the most important celebration of Cologne 2005. Preparations continue. It is now expected that a million young people will converge on Cologne. in dialogUE, BEHIND THE CROSS. The next WYD will be punctuated with ecumenical events: “ecumenical stages” in the form of celebrations will be held simultaneously in the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf on 17 August at 7.30 pm. From 16 to 19 August, the Spiritual Centre is proposing celebrations and ecumenical services: with the Taizé Community in Cologne (church of St. Agnes) and in Bonn (church of St. Martin), with the Chemin Neuf Community (St. Severin) and with the St. Egidio Community (St. Ursula) in Cologne. The youth festival is being organized with the participation of many Protestants and Orthodox. Moreover, the community of work of the Christian Churches (ACK) has organized, throughout the duration of WYD, a series of meetings and colloquia aimed at presenting and discussing the Christian identity and the ecumenical future in discussions between students of theology of the various confessions. Numerous representatives of the other church communities will participate in the main events of WYD. It will also be an ecumenical WYD at the level of hospitality: much accommodation has been offered by Evangelical parishes and by Evangelical and Orthodox families. Many Evangelical churches will host meetings of catechesis and events linked to the youth festival. The Days of meeting in the dioceses and the Day of social commitment will also be occasions for significant ecumenical projects, the result of close collaboration between the various confessional organizations. But the most significant aspect is linked to the pilgrimage with the WYD Cross (“Kreuzspuren” – traces of the Cross) which will cross Germany, from Dresden to Cologne, along the new “ecumenical pilgrims’ way”, from 8 July to 16 August”. WYD HILL. On 24 May, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne, blessed the hill on the Marienfeld, which will be the site of the altar for the Pope’s Mass with the young on 21 August. The “mountain of the 70 nations”, in Meisner’s words, is ten metres high, and was artificially created from 80,000 cubic metres of special gravel. The cardinal recalled that, at the beginning of the year, the delegates of 70 nations had deposited a handful of earth from their respective countries here. “We have realised this hill to praise you”, said Meisner during his prayer for the blessing of the hill. “Here the youth of all the world will come to seek you and worship you, as did the Magi from the East”. Father Heiner Koch, general secretary of WYD, praised the progress of the work: “Mountains are places of meeting with God. At the Marienfeld we can grasp that the prayer of the monks of past centuries was not in vain. We will be able to harvest its abundant fruit when thousands of youth will celebrate Mass with the Pope here to meet and worship God”. DAYS OF MEETING. So far 2,234 twinning arrangements are reported by German parishes and dioceses for the ‘Days of meeting’ and for WYD itself. “The twinning requests received from over 130 countries demonstrate the close network of links created by our parishes, associations and groups with the universal Church and the positive tradition of international exchange in the sector of youth apostolate”, underlined Father Don Georg Austen, WYD secretary for the German Bishops’ Conference. Austen renewed the appeal to the youth of the whole world to participate also in the days preceding the meeting with the Pope, which “offer the chance to experience personal encounters, participate in prayer and masses, spend leisure time in common and visit regional attractions”. The days of meeting will culminate with the Day of Social Commitment on 12 August, with the realization of social projects throughout Germany, by German youth and their foreign guests.