Dopo la festa sul lungo Reno per accogliere Benedetto XVI, strade bloccate, ponti chiusi e trasporti in tilt per oltre un’ora e mezza a Colonia. Diversi disagi per i pellegrini. Il grande ponte in ferro di fronte la cattedrale, lo Hohenzollern Brucke, è rimasto aperto a lungo in una sola direzione, dal centro della città […]

The Pope spoke to all the young people on bord the boat. Joaquín Navarro Valls, spokesman for the Holy See Press Office told this to the journalists, explaining that "whereas Pope John Paul II communicated especially with gestures, Pope Ratzinger dedicates plenty of room to words. This will be the pontificate of concepts and words". […]

” “"You came to Cologne to meet the world youth. We prepared intensively and for a long time for this event": with these words the Archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Meisner, welcomed Pope Benedict XVI in the Roncalliplatz, the  "heart" of the Rhine city. Meisner then reminded the Pope about the presence, among the youngsters of […]

Cologne, city of the Magi, where "the feast of Epiphany in a certain sense is celebrated the whole year round" and also where "one of the three Magi was seen as a Moorish king and, therefore, as the representative of the African Continent". Cologne, city of the Saints and martyrs who, "through the witnessing of […]

On greeting Pope Benedict XVI, on board the boat called "RheinEnergie", Cardinal Karl Lehmann, President of the German Bishops’ Conference, recalled how already since Tuesday in Cologne with the WYD "we are having experience of the universal Church through all those young people from all over the world and with different backgrounds". "Now, however – […]

Katerina Mann, 67 years old, born and always lived in Cologne, moved forward among a group of Polish participants at the WYD to reach Line 3 of the Underground.  She said: "I have never seen my city so lively, colourful and animated. These young people, who arrived here from distant countries, are company for me. […]

"To you all I wish to say and insist on this: open your heart wide to God, let yourselves be surprised by Christ! Allow him the "right to speak to you" during these days!". This is the first message(full text on www.vatican.va) which Pope Benedict XVI addressed today to the young people gathered in Cologne […]

Around 11 pm last night, the main station of Cologne was besieged by the young pilgrims, by the few Italians returning from RheinEnergie Stadium where the Italian festivities had just finished. The great influx of people, above all near platform 11, caused great pressure preventing people from getting out. Ambulances, the fire brigade and the […]

Sul battello il Papa ha parlato con tutti i giovani che erano a bordo. Lo ha detto il portavoce della Santa Sede, Joaquín Navarro Valls, ai giornalisti, spiegando che "mentre Giovanni Paolo II comunicava soprattutto con i gesti, Papa Ratzinger dedica grande spazio alla parola. Questo sarà il pontificato dei concetti e delle parole". Il […]

Colonia, città dei Magi, dove "si celebra in un certo senso, tutto l’anno la festa dell’Epifania" e anche dove "uno dei tre Magi è stato visto come un re moro e, quindi, come il rappresentante del Continente africano". Colonia, città dei Santi e dei martiri che, "mediante la testimonianza della loro vita e la traccia […]