"Particularly in this Church which seems to be getting old in Europe, God is continuously and endlessly calling": Bishop Franz-Joseph Bode, President of the Episcopal Commission for Youth reminded the young people about this, inviting them to become "listeners of God", in the Homily during the official opening Mass of the 20th World Youth Day which is taking place in Bonn, and at the same time also in Cologne and in Düsseldorf. In the Hofgarten square, a symbolic place for having been where demonstrations for peace by the catholic movement took place in 1980. There were about 50,000 youngsters under an unbelievable sun listening in silence to the words spoken by the bishop, with the help of radios for translation from German. They often applauded between one sentence and another. Especially when he described our times in Europe which were poor in "exciting words, with few visions which were really captivating, few figures who offer a sense of direction on the journey towards the future". This happens both for the church and society, he specified, and in particular young people suffer because "the perspectives of life are blocked by unemployment and a deep fear for the future". In addition, "on seeing the noise of the multi-coloured market of possibilities he underlined young people have difficulty in distinguishing the voice of God from other voices". Hence the invitation to be guided by wise men, by the elderly, like Pope John Paul II and now Pope Benedict XVI, to know how to listen to the voice of God who is calling. An attitude to be lived together in the Church "because nobody can go on his or her journey alone with God, but needs a wider community for the way of faith and vocation".
