The young pilgrims taking part in the World Youth Day set up in Lourdes arrived yesterday morning, 15th July. And their number exceeded the organizers’ expectations. They actually had to prepare a supplement of "WYD bags" urgently. The young pilgrims arrived by train, by car or by bus, and they were welcomed by the 70 French volunteers and the bishop of Tarbes et Lourdes, Msgr. Jacques Perrier, who had the idea of celebrating the World Youth Day in Lourdes at the same time with the Sydney WYD. "In spite of the really high number of pilgrims characterizing the jubilee year declared the organizers, we realize that the young added a shade of colour and joy to the rooms of the sanctuary". Celebrations in Lourdes started yesterday evening, 15th July, with a "concert" wake. Today, 16th July, in the presence of the bishop of Lourdes, the last apparition of the Virgin to Bernadette (16th July 1858) is going to be evoked, followed by a torchlight walk. This day will finish with an international Mass, celebrated in the square of the basilica "Notre-Dame du Rosaire".
