A point of departure” “

“Don’t abandon your Christian roots! Only thus will you be able to bring to the world and to Europe the cultural richness of your history”: That’s the appeal made by the Pope to the Spanish people, in the course of the mass he celebrated in the Plaza de Colòn in Madrid on 4 May. During the rite John Paul II proclaimed five new saints (St. Pedro Poveda, St. José María Rubio, St. Genoveva Torres, St. Ángela de la Cruz, St. Maravillas de Jesús), in the presence of a million people. “May Spain, following a past of courageous evangelization, still bear witness to the Risen Jesus Christ today!”, declared the Pope in the ceremony that concluded his 99th apostolic journey (and his fifth to Spain). We gathered some comments. The Spanish Church is focusing on the young. The Spanish Church is decidedly placing its focus on youth pastoral care, says Victor Cortizo, national coordinator of the youth apostolate, and organizer of the Pope’s meeting with the young (Saturday, 3 May) in the “Cuatro Vientos” base in Madrid. “The Church has a great deal it still needs to do with the young – says Cortizo, one of the few laymen with a post of this kind within a European Episcopal Conference -. And, without doubt, society too, from this point of view, must follow the Pope’s example: the young have an inestimable value. It’s not just when they have to vote or purchase something, but as protagonists of civil life that they are interesting. From the pastoral viewpoint, I think the meeting with the Holy Father represents a fundamental point of departure. In the days, months and years ahead, we’ll find out how many people experienced this meeting as the point of departure for their life of faith. We’ll discover how many lives were influenced by what the Pope said and by the experience they treasured of these days”. The reaction of the young: “The Pope’s visit has given us strength and energy; he’s a person who transmits an incredible courage”, says Anna Pons, from Tarragona, one of the 600,000 youth who participated in the prayer vigil with the Pope at Cuatro Vientos, Madrid, in one of the largest youth gatherings ever held in Spain. The view is shared by Rosa María Jané, from Barcelona, who has already taken part in four other meetings with the Pope: “It’s always an impressive experience, with an inexplicable power”. The 28-year-old novice Ruth de la Cruz gave a testimony during the meeting which made a big impression on many of those present: “I left everything for Christ. I’m very happy, I wouldn’t change my life for anyone or for anything”. The actuality of the five new saints. The new saints have “concrete faces”, they have something to say to us today, says don Olegario Gonzalez de Cardedal, professor of theology at the University of Salamanca. “Heroes”, he says, are all the more necessary in a society characterized by non-belief. “Heroes of silence who lead to the essence of the sacred. Heroes of truth and freedom. Heroes of selfless service to our neighbour; of acts of charity and mercy performed before God without asking for applause”. The Church – he continues – “is not a parallel society or a counter-society. Believers form part both of the Church and of society” and the Church “contributes” to the “shared values that underwrite, ennoble and liberate civil society”. Letters and sms. More than 7,000 “sms” messages sent by cell phones were blessed by the Pope, who during this visit also received letters from groups that expressed their concerns. They included a letter signed by 500 priests in the Basque region who asked for the independence of their country. Another letter from Catalonia asked the Pope that the bishops to be appointed to the sees of Barcelona and Vic be “persons of dialogue, welcoming, close to the real world of the faithful, and deeply involved in the socio-political, cultural, linguistic and religious reality of Catalonia”. The base community of Madrid also wrote to the Pope reminding him that Spanish Catholics were united in his strenuous defence of peace and against the war in Iraq.