As a seventeen year-old Catholic student, I felt inclined to attend not only the largest Catholic gathering of the year – but the event which was attended by over two million people from one hundred and ninety-three countries from over the five continents world-wide.
Every day, aside from the main events, many different activities took place as part of the cultural program. Processions; Concerts; Guided museum tours; large Screens at the Vicente Calderon Stadium; plays and exhibits all took place throughout the action-packed week.
The event officially began on Tuesday 16th August, with an outdoor mass in the evening attended by around one million pilgrims, which took part in Madrid’s Cibeles Square presided over by the Archbishop of Madrid and concelebrated by the bishops and Priests participating in the WYD. This event alone deserved thorough recognition by the world’s largest broadcasting cooperation – instead, no report was published.
The next morning, again, the BBC failed to pick up on an extra-ordinary set of events which occurred simultaneously; after the official opening ceremony of the event which finished around midnight, hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims attended thousands of Catechesis sessions which were arranged in volunteering schools, churches, sports centres and auditoriums around the city providing access for all spoken languages. The British Broadcasting Corporation, did however, talk about the pivotal importance of migrant workers in Spain that very same morning.
His Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Barajas airport shortly before midday, greeted privately by The Royal Family and the Spanish President – Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero. In defence of the BBC, they did report the Pope’s arrival, but ignorantly focused on the reason why Madrid was the chosen city and concluded it must be due to the ‘rapid secularisation’ within its society as well as illustrating the fact that around one thousand protestors took to the streets to protest against the pastoral visit due to its cost – avoiding the undeniable truth that over a million pilgrims simultaneously filled Madrid’s city centre to welcome the Pope on his first day. Not only did I not see any protestors around the city centre, but I simply could not avoid the noise, hymns and chants which were a product of the Pilgrims and supporters adoration of The Pope wherever I went; an incorrect and arguably pathetic aspect of the story was placed in the public limelight instead.
That very same evening, following on a two hour flight; a state greeting by The Royal Family and the President; an hour trip around the streets of Madrid greeting over a million pilgrims from all over the world an 84 year-old man found the energy and willingness to ride in the Popemobile around the city, stopping off at various points to greet adolescents from all over the world elected to represent the faith for their continent – the ability for a man of that age to stay awake for six hours in one day would be very likely to reach the regional news in our beloved United Kingdom. After receiving the Pope in Cibeles, twelve images of Our Lady from around the globe were on display in Madrid for Pilgrims to visit and pray before them.
The Leader of the Catholic Church had little time to rest following his tour of Madrid as he was eagerly anticipated by young religious sisters in the Monastery of El Escorial early on Thursday morning. Proceeding from his two hour meting with the sisters he then spoke to 1,000 young college professors in the Basilica, with thousands of pilgrims waiting outside to catch a glimpse of the Holy Father. In the evening, over a million Catholics attended the Stations of the Cross illustrated by twelve statues from around Spain each one illustrating a Station of the Cross.
The climax of the event was to begin on Saturday at the military air base Cuatro Vientos – home to over two million people that very night. Arriving there, I promise to say I have never to this point seen such a mass number of people in one given place; that view alone was more satisfying than any other experience and I genuinely wish I could share it with those who could not attend. After spending hours eroding my voice away cheering on different countries and speaking to hundreds of people, the evening vigil began with the Pope thanking and welcoming all the pilgrims to the Cuatro Vientos Aerodrome. Even a man who has experienced large numbers before him seemed authentically proud and emotional by the sight.
Shortly before midnight an unexpected storm hit Madrid knocking over many tents and blowing over the Pope’s skullcap – do not doubt He was the first to improvise with a truly memorable speech which I feel obliged to ‘Copy and Paste’:
Dear Young Friends,
We have lived together an adventure. Strengthened by your faith in Christ, you have resisted the rain. Before leaving I wish you all good night. Have a good rest. I thank you for the sacrifice that you are making and I have no doubt that you will offer it generously to the Lord. We shall see one another tomorrow, God willing, in the celebration of the Eucharist. I am expecting all of you. I thank you for the fine example that you have given. As happened tonight, you can always, with Christ, endure the trials of life. Do not forget this. I thank you all.
By 9AM, before hundreds of thousands had rested enough to get out of their sleeping bags, The Pope was already circulating the aerodrome in his Popemobile as he willed to see as many Pilgrims as he could before The Final Mass. Benedict XVI concelebrated the mass with thousands of Bishops and Priests as well as encouraging all the young people to be a witness to their faith – a statement which was a product of undoubtedly the loudest cheer I will ever witness. World Youth Day ended with The Holy Father electing Rio de Janeiro as the place of the 2013 WYD – an event which I rigorously recommend all young Catholics – practising or not, to attend.
This has been a week I will eternally cherish – meeting people surrounding the globe, attending an event with such an astonishing number of people and most importantly, seeing the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.
Most people in the UK are not especially interested in what the Pope does. The BBC is merely reflecting that.
Yet they are more interested in 1,000 protestors in Spain because of the papal visit? Poor argument there…
Protestors in Spain were more than 15,000. Yes, much less than all young people from JMJ, but all from Madrid (usually an empty city in august), so it’s quite a large amount for us.
I’d also like to remark the ending of your text:
This has been a week I will eternally cherish – meeting people surrounding the globe, attending an event with such an astonishing number of people and most importantly, seeing the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.
Any mention of Jesus in all this conclusions and goals achieved?
Thank you for your comment. I agree with the first paragraph of your comment – a protest does deserve recognition, albeit on a far smaller scale than a gathering of millions of young Catholics. The foundations for a great report from the BBC were present at the time, the focus of the report was a naïve and ignorant one.
Just before my concise conclusion, I stated my willingness to return to another JMJ and recommended it to all young Catholics; doesn’t this intrinsically and intuitively suggest that the event was of a great success?
The aim of this outstanding event was to gather up millions of young adults from the four corners of the globe to show that they are not alone in their beliefs – a strong portrayal of the strength and confidence they bring to the Church today in order to enhance their faith.
It is not merely a gathering of millions of adolescents, but a time to put trust in the world’s youth; a calling for the world’s youth to come together as one people.
International events have the capability to stir up many negative outcomes: Fundamentalism, nationalism and other modern day secular conflicts… In a city like Madrid in plain summer surrounded by millions of people, the atmosphere can be tough – a task which we should offer up to God; it had the potential to be dangerous, this potential, however, was tempered by pure devotion and a willingness of the youth of The Church to enhance their faith. There is no need to include Jesus amongst the aims of the event; faith and understanding are the essential words – words which I have used on numerous occasions.
Thank you for your inspiring eyewitness account. I noticed a few editing mistakes, such as “His Holy Father”, which should have been “The Holy Father” or “His Holiness” ; also the phrase “the pilgrims and supporters _adoration of_ the pope” should be “the pilgrims’ and supporters’ _affection for_ the pope”. Despite the colloquial meaning of the word “adoration”, in Catholic parlance it signifies the worship which is due to God alone. Keep on writing about your faith, DB. You’ve made a promising start.
It’s very good that you included the words of Benedict, which contain the phrase, “strengthened by your faith in Christ”. But it might also have been good to include a reference to Jesus Christ in your own words.
Thank you very much for the feedback. Greatly appreciated!
Mr. Stables, I read your link on another article and appreciated this entry.
I might be unaware of all the subtleties here -I’m a hick from Indianapolis, Indiana USA, where corn grows- but I’d submit the following obvious opinions:
(a) this is another example of the BBC cherry-picking news items that reflect its political views, (b) the BBC is not alone in doing this, and (c) you do love Jesus, but you were not writing a blog entry about Him.
Having said all that, don’t let the critics get you down; keep up the good work! We need young Catholics in the blogosphere.
St Francis de Sales, ora pro nobis…
I just simply want to say it was a very well written article and you painted a beautiful picture of the whole experience.
Good job.