The Cross of "Marienfeld"” “

Support of the EU Parliament, thematic competitions, fundraising with recipe books… the initiatives to promote the 20th World Youth Day (WYD), due to take place in Cologne, Germany, from 11 to 21 August 2005, are now innumerable . The WYD Cross continues its pilgrimage through Germany: its last stopping place was the diocese of Magdeburg, in former East Germany, in a journey full of hope and significance. And the pilgrimage of the WYD Cross will be combined with the pilgrimage of another Cross, that of San Damiano, whose copy, together with that of the Madonna of Loreto, are Italy’s gift to WYD 2005. The Cross of San Damiano, handed over by the Minister General of the Friars Minor Conventual Father Joachim Giermek to a group of young people at a ceremony held in Assisi on 1st November, will begin its journey to Cologne in June 2005. Below we give a brief summary of the various preparations for the German WYD. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS THE WYD. The European Parliament has decided to support WYD with a contribution equivalent to 1.5 million euros. “Brussels has thus been added to the large group of public supporters that have already promised their backing”, declared HEINER KOCH, general secretary of the WYD in Cologne. Funding has already been pledged by the Federal Government, by the Land of Rhineland-Northern Westphalia and the city of Cologne itself, “The commitment of Brussels demonstrates that the WYD is not just a question that concerns the Church and German government alone”, commented the administrator delegate for WYD, HERMANN-JOSEF JOHANNS. INAUGURATION OF THE “MARIENFELD”. On 10 October a Mass for youth inaugurated the “Marienfeld”, the area in which the Mass celebrated by the Pope at the end of WYD 2005 will be held. Over 700 young people and inhabitants of the area participated in the celebration, that ended with Heiner Koch’s blessing of a wooden cross 10 metres high, raised on the site where the altar will be built, to commemorate the fact that the area – the Field of Mary – was in the past used as a place of Marian pilgrimage. “WHO DO YOU WORSHIP?”. A party for a hundred guests including catering and DJ and a scooter: these are the top prizes being offered in a competition for young people on the theme of worship. Aim of the competition is to discover what persons the young venerate, admire and worship. Up till 31 January 2005, students at senior secondary schools and universities are thus being invited to present ideas, whether objects or persons, that will then be selected and displayed in the Rhineland regional museum and in the church dedicated to the name of Jesus in Bonn. Further information on the website: www.was-betet-ihr-an.de. RECIPES, WINE AND CANDLES, SCREENSAVERS. A book containing favourite recipes and the prayers recited at table by German bishops and cardinals is one of the many fund-raising events aimed at permitting the presence of youth from all over the world at WYD in Cologne. The book is available from bookshops in the area of Cologne. The proceeds of sales will be used to fund the participation of Lithuanian youngsters at WYD. The official wine of WYD is now on sale on the official site of WYD (www.wjt2005.de). The wine is available in two varieties: dry and medium dry. Produced from grapes from the episcopal vineyards of Trier, it is being sold in bottles that bear the WYD day logo on its labels. Candles too, stamped with the logo www.wjt-kerzenshop-2005.de, are also available in the virtual shop of WYD. They are produced by Engels Kerzen, a family-run candle-making business in Kempen, suppliers of candles for WYD. WYD screensavers and ring tones can be downloaded from the WYD website of the diocese of Fulda, www.wyd2005-fulda.de. The tunes available include “Du für mich” (“You for me”), the hymn of the pilgrimage of the WYD Cross, and the anthem of WYD 2002 in Toronto, “Light of the world”. THE CROSS AT MAGDEBURG. The WYD Cross passed through the diocese of Magdeburg, one of the new German Länder, between 26 October and 7 November. Its pilgrimage has included many important stages in the former territory of the DDR, with a strong ecumenical accent. The handing over of the Cross by the youth of Paderborn took place on the former frontier between the Federal Republic and the Democratic Republic. As a sign of reconciliation and commemoration of the sorrowful past of division, the youth of the two “Germanies” prayed together. Reconciliation and hope also characterized the stage of the Cross at the juvenile prison at Raßnitz on 30 October. The Cross was displayed for hours in the prison chapel. Later an ecumenical celebration of the Word was held with the auxiliary bishop Msgr. GERHARD FEIGE and the superintendent of the Evangelical Church MANSER. Another ecumenical stage took place at Halberstadt: in front of the city’s cathedral, numerous young members of both Catholic and Evangelical groups took part in an ecumenical service to welcome the WYD Cross. The next stage: the diocese of Munich-Freising.