” “"The extraordinary response of the youth to this event belies those who on several occasion have stated the success of the WYDs is only related to the personal charisma of John Paul II". This was said by Mgr Bruno Forte, bishop of Chieti-Vasto, who yesterday was on a Germanwings plane flying from Rome to Cologne, full of young people from the USA and Australia. "Fascinated by the mystic charisma of John Paul II and by the communicative and meditative skills of Benedict XVI continued Mgr Forte , young people turn out to be meaning- and truth- seekers, a fact which leads them to lofty and demanding aspirations, much more than the logics of consumption would want us to believe". According to the bishop, there is one more "significant" aspect in the days of Cologne: the Pope’s visit to the Synagogue of the city’s Jewish community. "The event he says is not just a confirmation of the Church’s love of the people of Israel, but takes on one further meaning, since the Synagogue is visited by the first German Pope in about one thousand years, a Pope who is therefore the child of that people who the Nazi barbarism had led to live the tragedy of the Shoah against the children of Israel". Finally, the days of Cologne will be marked by "a deep attention to ecumenical negotiations", and the Pope will bring here the "esteem" in which the Roman Church holds Protestantism. All this will happen- concluded the bishop in a country which "hosts thousands of Islamic immigrants, thus turning out to be a privileged land and a breeding ground for negotiations".
