A hill for altar” “

“We are forming a network for the 20th WYD. And the dioceses are contributing to it in a decisive way”, declared Msgr. Franz-Josef Bode , chairman of the youth ministry committee of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), during the conference of delegates held at Altenberg, near Cologne, until 2nd June. Organized by the DBK, the conference was attended by the representatives of the 27 German dioceses that are preparing the Days of Meeting and the WYD. The delegates visited the Marienfeld area where an artificial hill has been built: it will serve as the altar for the celebration with the Pope. “Here it may be said in the truest sense of the term that faith can move mountains”, commented Msgr. Bode enthusiastically. Observing the road network laid out at Marienfeld, he added: “Looking at the roads from the top of the hill we can grasp that we are building a network that will lead to a deeper faith”. “LET US GIVE THANKS”. The great willingness shown by the dioceses to accommodate the young pilgrims during the Days of Meeting emerged clearly from the Altenberg meeting: “Our invitation to get to know the Church and the culture of Germany before participating in WYD in Cologne has proved successful. The dioceses are able to offer hospitality to a far higher number of young people than we had anticipated. Preparing a festival of the faith with youth from all over the world is an exciting task that is being performed with great dedication by the dioceses”, declared Father Georg Austen, secretary of WYD for the DBK. Over 150,000 youth from 160 countries will in fact be given hospitality in Germany. “The offer of accommodation notified to us by the dioceses is even higher than expected”, commented Austen. The commitment of the dioceses is also demonstrated by the high number of volunteers who have registered for the event in Cologne. “With this commitment at various levels it is becoming clear that the Days of Meeting and WYD are one thing only”, added Austen, who also reported on the “growing interest of the youth who are participating in the 20th WYD”. In the meantime the Katholische Bildungswerk (Catholic educational agency) of the archdiocese of Cologne is organizing courses in English, French, Spanish and Italian for the host families, assistants, anyone interested and groups. The courses are aimed at teaching the basics to be able to communicate with foreign guests. VolUNTEERS. 31,145 volunteers from 199 countries: that’s the impressive final figure of the volunteers who have enrolled in WYD. “We have by far exceeded our target”, says Christoph Wild, who is in charge of volunteers at the WYD organizing office. “When we topped the 20,000 mark we were enthusiastic; but over 30,000…. It’s fantastic. The number of volunteers is a clear signal in the Church and in society of the dedication of volunteers”. At the end of June, the volunteers will be contacted to find out in what sectors they may best perform their service. 22,272 of them are Germans, of whom over 12,000 from the archdiocese of Cologne itself. 1,285 already worked as volunteers during previous World Youth Days. The last enrolment, which arrived just before the deadline – midnight of 31 May – came from Canada. THE WYD TRAIN. Also at the level of transport organization, the WYD is going full steam ahead: since 8 June the carriages of Line 1 of the light metropolitan railway KVB, which connects Bensberg with Weiden, have been travelling with the colours of WYD, including the logo of Cologne 2005 and the slogan chosen by the KVB rail company itself: “Let’s move the world”. The carriages were blessed by Msgr. Renato Boccardo and Heiner KOCH of the WYD committee. On the same day, the chairman of KVB Walter Reinarz and the managing director of Weltjugendtag GmbH, Hermann-Josef Johanns, signed an official collaborative venture, presented at a press conference, aimed at reinforcing the provision of local transport to the benefit of the participants in WYD without aggravating the normal traffic. KVB will also provide a shuttle service at Marienfeld during 21/22 August. PAPER FOR WYD. The paper used during WYD will in large part be recycled. “We assume the responsibility to preserve the limited resources in favour of future generations and to achieve a fairer participation of all people in our limited goods”, explains Thomas Here, environmental delegate at the WYD office. The recycled paper was also in large part used for the preparation of the event with the support of the official sponsoring firms that are supplying and delivering the paper to the organizing office of Cologne 2005 free of charge.