..that I'll stop writing about World Youth Day shortly. But endure it a little longer. It has a number of important implications for the future and it's worth pondering.
There are some good highlights here. And Papa B., who obviously loved it all, has been speaking about it at length and describing it as a "cascade of light" and "a precious gift which gives hope for the future of the Church".
One reason why I was keen to go to Madrid was that, a little while ago, I recieved a passionate and angry denunciation of WYD as a pagan counterfeit modernist evil event, together with repeated denunciations of (Blessed)John Paul II. Probably now following the success of Madrid, which followed the success of Sydney,which followed the success of Cologne, which followed the success of Paris and Rome and all the others, this line will change. An apology from the denouncers would be decent and honourable.
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Some people get things out of proportion. But I wouldn't dismiss Catholics who are sceptical about these huge events. An Eastern Orthodox criticism is "you Catholics have only one bishop". It's not necessarily good to depend so much on the personality of the Pope.
I'd support World Youth Day rather than attack it, however, on the basis that almost any plan is better than no plan at all, and World Youth Day is a plan to re-evangelise Europe.
I don't think World Youth Day is about the personality of the Pope. Had that been the case, they would have stopped with the death of the hugely charismatic JP2. But they continue to be incredibly lively and wonderfully blessed events because the young people who attend them (I was there in Cologne in 2005) value the pope for being the pope, the successor of Peter, rather than a private individual. All the frantic cheering and flag waving is a way for us to show our love for Christ and His Church, in a very vocal, passionate and joy-filled way which, quite rightly, isn't appropriate for the average Sunday Mass. God bless World Youth Days and may they long continue!
I don't think World Youth Day is about the personality of the Pope. Had that been the case, they would have stopped with the death of the hugely charismatic JP2. But they continue to be incredibly lively and wonderfully blessed events because the young people who attend them (I was there in Cologne in 2005) value the pope for being the pope, the successor of Peter, rather than a private individual. All the frantic cheering and flag waving is a way for us to show our love for Christ and His Church, in a very vocal, passionate and joy-filled way which, quite rightly, isn't appropriate for the average Sunday Mass. God bless World Youth Days and may they long continue!
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