” “"The WYD is a favourable moment to show the face of the Church through the ones of its younger faithful". This idea is shared by Andrea Sthring, 31 years old, employed, Gerlinde Bartl, 24 years old, Maribella Wermuth 20 and Leonhard Kormann, 25, all students. They come from Austria and have been in Cologne for two days. "The WYD they said represents a great intercultural meeting and a strong experience for us youngsters to get to know our contemporaries from different nations and cultures but nonetheless all united in the same faith in Christ. The WYD in Europe wants to be in this moment a sign and a call to our origins". The death of Pope John Paul II and, more recently, the terrorist attacks on London and on Sharm el Sheik: "could have cast a cloud of sadness over the WYD they said – but, on seeing the serene faces of the young people, we realised that is not so. The WYD is the strongest response to terrorism because it proposes a world based on faith, living together,respect and tolerance which are the ideals for which Pope John Paul II spent his whole life".
