” “"The secret of holiness is friendship with Christ and faithful adhesion to His will": Pope Benedict XVI met the seminarians taking part in the WYD in the afternoon in the church dedicated to Saint Pantaleon in Cologne. The Holy Father walked part of the way to the church, stopping to greet many faithful who were waiting for him, in particular children. Once in church and after the Celebration of the Vespers and the witnessing by a seminarian, a priest and a bishop, the Pope addressed affectionate words and wishes (Homily text) to those present: "I wanted the programme of these days in Cologne to include a special meeting with the young seminarians, so that a more explicit and stronger vocational dimension would emerge. This is always present in the World Youth Days. You are certainly living this experience with special intensity, because you are seminarians, that is you are young people who are living in a time when there is a strong search for Christ and for meeting Him, in view of an important mission in the Church". Pope Benedict XVI explained that the seminary should not be seen as "a place, but, as a significant time of the life of a disciple of Jesus". In his speech, the Pontiff paused a long time on the vocation theme: "Dear friends, this is the mystery of the call, of the vocation; a mystery which involves the life of every christian, which is even more manifest in he who Christ has invited to leave everything in order to follow Him more closely". The Pope then invited to pray for the "instructors" and those responsible for seminaries, whose role is "decisive" and he indicated the Madonna as the spiritual reference point. Lastly, he invited the young people in the seminaries from the 5 continents to get ready for the mission: "You will be invited to be the ministers of Christ. Each one of you will return among the people to be like alter Christus".
