Catholic Transcript Online

Prior to Pope John Paul II’s pastoral visit to World Youth Day in France in August 1997, predictions by the French media emphatically indicated "little general interest." Moreover, the French press and broadcast venues kept up their negative chants even when the gathering began to turn into what was readily recognizable by the world at large; specifically, a spectacular success. Large numbers of young people flocked to the Holy Father’s presence to hear him, to worship with him, and, simply, to be with him. The Papal pilgrimage to Paris quickly became a stunning surprise to naysayers.

Comparable indifference by media outlets was seen at Denver, where WYD occurred in 1993, causing some reporters to rush back to the scene to cover at least the closing.

Has not the generally underestimated Papal visit to Spain in August 2011 turned out similarly? The Holy Spirit breathes where he will, and young people everywhere continue to be attuned to his spiritual, radar-like promptings. Regardless of the low-key coverage that the media accorded Pope Benedict’s visit to World Youth Day in Madrid (the BBC has come under emphatic attack because of its apparent disinterest, e.g., focusing on protestors), the gathering drew (in the fierce heat of the meseta) over a million young pilgrims.

Police reports also indicated that 1.5 million people were on hand for the two final sessions in the Cuatro Vientos military airfield. "No matter where one went," one reporter wrote, "one was in the midst of … happy WYD pilgrims." Watching segments of the congress on international television, one could not help but feel drawn into an enormous festival of sincere faith on the part of the young. The message relayed to the viewer was surely one of hope for the future – a theme which secularists seem programmed to ignore or even conceal.

Indeed, a Nobel Laureate for Literature, Mario Vargas Liosa, once a severe critic of the Church as well as an avowed agnostic, stated that WYD can be interpreted in one of two ways: as primarily a superficial, rather than a solid religious festival; or a "proof that the Church of Christ maintains its strength and vitality." Despite inroads into Western culture made by secularists and materialists, he added, the artificial culture "has not been able to replace religion, nor will it be able to do so …" Hence, "believers and unbelievers should rejoice at what has taken place in Madrid."

Again and again, the Western world continues to witness religious revivals. We can only thank God for allowing us to be alive, now, in this crucial era of world history.

May this continuing phenomenon be kept alive, from nation to nation, diffusing hope and light to a weak, darkened, stormy world.

Young people are there, whenever the situation becomes morally bleak; they are there, with the Pope, contra viento y marea ("against all odds," as one Madrid newspaper insightfully observed).

Moreover, youths are there with their bishops on the local scenes. We have just witnessed this here in the Archdiocese, where about 2,000 young people gathered on 18 Sept. at Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, for prayer and religious celebration with Archbishop Henry J. Mansell and the priests of the Archdiocese. Indeed, the event constituted another chapter in a series of youth rallies which have been occurring regularly since 2006. Again the Spirit speaks to those who listen sincerely with open hearts – which is what our young people are evidently doing.