Pope’s message to young people at Genfest 2012

(September 01, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI has sent his blessing and greetings to a 3-day international youth festival that kicked off in the Hungarian capital Budapest on Friday, wishing that it be able to unite people from other backgrounds and cultures. Organized by the Focolare Movement, an international organization that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood, the 10^th edition of Genfest is taking place from August 31 to September 2 under the theme, “Let's bridge”. In a message sent on the Pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope recalled Budapest as a city where numerous bridges across the Danube brought the people together in unity, but where all the bridges were destroyed in the wake of the Second World War. “Yet out of the ashes of that terrible conflict, there arose a determination to build peace on lasting foundations, a determination which was to be the inspiration behind the founding of the Focolare Movement.” “The bridges across the Danube were rebuilt, and the international community set itself the goal of eliminating once and for all the conditions that might lead to future conflict,” the Pope noted. While Budapest as well as much of Eastern Europe continued to suffer under the oppression of a totalitarian regime, there have also been new possibilities for freedom and fraternal outreach since the end of the Cold War. The Pope wished that Budapest be a sign of hope to inspire all the young people at Genfest 2012 to offer the hand of friendship to those from other backgrounds and cultures, “in such a way as to shape the earthly city in unity and peace, rendering it to some degree an anticipation and prefiguration of the undivided city of God.” Organizers say some 12,000 young people from 104 nations are participating in Genfest 2012 in Budapest, 850 of them are from Asia. Two-thirds of participants are Christians of various denominations, while some 100 are from other religions.