10:00 AM
Jo-Anne Rowney
Cardinal Antonio Rouco, archbishop of Madrid, has said that World Youth Day will be the beginning of a deep "moral renewal of society."
The cardinal told PALABRA magazine that organisers expect "between half a million and a million" to participate in World Youth Day although they believe "in the central events ... that number will be considerably surpassed."
Cardinal Rouco said that the event "will be of an especially missionary nature," and that it "will give a strong impetus to the apostolic commitment of young people under the sign of the New Evangelization that Benedict XVI has re-launched." So there will be a focus on the renewing and strengthening our faith.
The cardinal explained that the aim underlying WYD was to encourage young people to "live their lives deeply rooted in Christ, and to live all aspects of their personal, profession and faith lives in Christ."
"They are the ones who will be able to begin the path to a deep moral renewal in society. In the end, it is this generation that is called to undertake a true social, cultural and political reform."
New generation
The archbishop of Madrid said "the affirmation does not respond to the truth," and that "a new youth has arisen in the Church" as a result of the series of international events.
The cardinal anticipates that the World Youth Day fruits will be seen "in vocations, in the spiritual, cultural and intellectual formation of young people; in the field of the family and the university; and it will also be translated into an empowerment of the new ecclesial realities [movement and lay associations], which will be very present here." [We previously blogged about the Vocation Expo that you can attend in Madrid.]
Cardinal Rouco also said that he "prays every day, constantly, to Blessed John Paul II so that he will give a hand from above." He continued, "If there is someone who understands well what we have ahead of us, it is he."
The cardinal took the opportunity to appeal to young people to "register as soon as possible for the World Youth Day."
He predicts a warm reception for the youth day pilgrims, and said he "had no worries" that the Pope would be well received.
Cardinal Rouco added that the organizers secured an additional area for pilgrims adjacent to the Cuatro Vientos airfield that will allow for a greater number of pilgrims to attend. "Our great responsibility in organizing the World Youth Day," he said, "is that everyone who comes will be able to participate in those two great central events."
It sounds that plans are well underway in Madrid as they prepare for us to visit in August
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