A Central European WYD” “

The “pilgrimage of peoples” to the Marian sanctuary of Mariazell on 22-23 May, culminating event of the MEKT (Katholikentag for Central Europe), gave ample scope to the some 6,000 youth who came from all over the Central European area: a rich programme of events was laid on for them. The final Mass was dedicated to them. It was co-celebrated in the open air on Sunday, despite the snow and freezing temperature, by Cardinal Peter Erdö, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and primate of Hungary, and by Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, archbishop of Prague. The young pilgrims also attended the inaugural ceremony in the basilica on Friday evening. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, president of the Austrian Episcopal Conference, welcomed them and emphasized their task to “bring people the message of the MEKT: Christ, Europe’s hope”. Also present at the event was Cardinal Joachim Meisner from Cologne, the city that will host World Youth Day in 2005. And it was in what Matthias Kopp, spokesman of the Cologne 2005 WYD, called an “WYD atmosphere” that the young sang, prayed and participated in the eucharistic adoration in Mariazell. During the MEKT many workshops were also held in which the young tackled various issues, both spiritual and ethical and social in type. YOUNG PILGRIMS. “It’s a meeting of the young linked to Jesus”, says ANEKA NEMECECK from Prague (Czech Republic). “A wonderful experience of the exchange of experiences with the youth of other countries”. ALECSANDAR GUBAR, from Györ (Hungary), came to Mariazell on foot, travelling the 160 km in four days: “For the Hungarians – he says -, Mariazell is a traditional place of pilgrimage. Many pilgrims travel there on foot from Hungary each year and now, with Hungary’s entry into the EU, we wish to develop meetings with the youth in various countries”. Asked why go on a pilgrimage on foot, Alecsandar replies: “Travelling on foot is tiring: we want to go with Mary and Jesus towards a Christian Europe”. YOUTH AND EUROPE. Commenting on the youth meeting in Mariazell, Msgr. ÄGIDIUS ZSIFKOVICS, general secretary of the Austrian Episcopal Conference, declared to SIR: “This youth pilgrimage is one of the most important events of the MEKT because the future is somehow at stake in it. The process of European unification depends a great deal on these young people and may benefit a lot from them. Feeling Christianity not as a burden, a religious obligation to fulfil, but as the joy of cooperating with Christ in building the future of Europe, and bringing the Christian values into our society: this is the leaven, this is the way in which we Christians should – and according to the Gospel, must – contribute to forging Europe”. As regards the significance of the MEKT for the Austrian Church, Msgr. Zsifkovics said: “It’s very important, because in many respects the Austrian Church has become tired, lukewarm. It also has to solve many problems that concern not just the Church but also society at large. The countries that are participating today, and especially those that belong to the Eastern European bloc, can learn from each other. Our Austrian Church can transmit to the Church of Eastern Europe many spiritual values, but from the Church of Eastern Europe the Austrian Church can learn much in terms of spirituality and perhaps even the attitude with which people gave witness to their faith for decades: they suffered because of it. And in this way a positive exchange can take place between East and West.” FROM MARIAZELL TO COLOGNE. During the meeting on Friday night, Cardinal JOACHIM MEISNER (Cologne) invited the youth of Mariazell to the WYD in Cologne. “In the history of God, the world is always changed for the better either by the young or by the old: by the young Mary or by the elderly Abraham”, he said, identifying the “discovery of our own vocation as the mission for Mariazell and also for Cologne”. “The hope I express for Mariazell and Cologne”, he concluded, is “to see young people who will give a new face to Europe: the face of Jesus, in the years to come”. “We have learned many things from this meeting”, said MATTHIAS KOPP, spokesman of the WYD in Cologne, also referring to the logistic organization of the event. “Mariazell – he continued – impressed me deeply, thanks to its atmosphere of light-heartedness combined with spirituality, and with the strong faith of the young. I think this enthusiasm is a good preparation for the spirit that I hope will enliven Cologne. I have observed the young who have come here to Mariazell and I think that, due to the repression of the faith they suffered under the years of communism, they have much to teach to our ‘spoilt’ West. Their enthusiasm, in spite of the strenuous journeys they made to arrive here, is formidable and I think it can also be brought to Cologne”. Mercede Succa, Sir correspondent at Mariazell