front page" "
World Youth Days (WYD) have now become, two decades after their foundation, a firm presence in the landscape of the universal Church. They are among John Paul II’s finest intuitions. They translate his attention to the young as builders of the future and his friendship for the new generations, eloquently expressed even in his forced silence on Palm Sunday. An event that remains firmly lodged in the memory is his visit to New York on 3 October 1979, when the young shouted out in Madison Square Garden: “John Paul II, We love you! John Paul II we love you!”. And the Pope replied: “John Paul II loves you!”. The Pope devised World Youth Day for the extraordinary Jubilee of the redemption in 1983-1984. On 20 December 1985, he announced the establishment of WYD to the College of Cardinals and the Roman Curia, and entrusted its organization to the Pontifical Council for the Laity. John Paul II appeals to the young to go on pilgrimage to Christ. The Three Magi will be the model at Cologne in a few months time: “We have come to worship him” ( Mt 2: 2). In his letter addressed to the young of 6 August 2004, the Pope referred to the journey undertaken by the wise men, who, as Matthew tells us, came “from the East to Jerusalem”, resting on the tradition of the veneration of the relics of the Three Magi in Cologne. WYD is also a pilgrimage of the universal Church through systematically chosen meeting places from one continent to another: Africa is still missing. WYD effectively translates the vision of the evangelist Matthew: his narrative extends beyond the confines of the people of Israel to all the peoples represented by the wise men. World Youth Days are an invitation to communion with Christ. They are a feast of communion, reinforced by the huge participation of the young: three million at Manila, a million at Paris, two million in Rome… A multitude of coloured points, a great concourse of people, an awesome vision when seen from the air; but when seen at close hand, from within, a genuine display of human brotherhood, full of diversity but united by the shared pilgrimage towards Christ. That’s why the Magi, searching for the truth, left their own countries to follow the star and recognized Jesus. On the basis of this model, the Pope also invited non-baptised youth, those who live far from the Church, without the help of the faith, to come to Cologne. The twenty-year history of WYD testifies to the deep affection that John Paul II feels for the young. Already on 22 October 1978, just after the ceremony for his papal enthronement, he ad-libbed a greeting to the young: “You are the future of the world, the hope of the Church, you are my hope!”. A few weeks later, on 15 November, he added: “Being young means to experience within oneself a constant newness of spirit, a constant quest for what is good, an impulse to transform oneself into an ever better person and a persevering will for self-giving”. And in these words he proposed a youth of faith that transcends time.
