” “The days of welcome and twinship, that will pave the way to the XX World Youth Day which will officially start on Tuesday August 16th with a liturgy in Cologne, Bonn and Dusseldorf, open today in the German dioceses. Until August 15th, over 120 thousand young people from 160 countries (right now, Italians are already over 20 thousand from about 100 dioceses) will be welcomed by the local churches, where they will take part in celebrations, prayers as well as 620 social and charitable events. Tomorrow, August 12th, will be the Social Commitment Day. A wide, interesting range of events has been developed by the German dioceses for their young foreign guests. Such initiatives range from the "mango-party" in Gau-Algersheim Castle in the Deanery of Bingen (August 14th at 7.00 pm) to the concert of the international ecumenical choir (August 12th at 7.30 pm) to a tour of the hard labour mine of Friedrichshall (August 14th) at Erbach or the sacred pop concert of Offenbach (August 13th at 4.00 pm) and the beach party that will be held at Russelsheim (August 12th at 6.30 pm) promoted to open a volley court built through acts of solidarity. On August 15th, all dioceses will celebrate the Mandate to the Young to Cologne, during which they will be given a little souvenir, different from church to church, as a token of brotherliness and welcome. From August 16th to 21st, the young will be in Cologne for the final days and the meeting with Benedict XVI.
