WYD: continuity and connections...

(Vatican Radio) Sean-Patrick Lovett who heads the English Programme of Vatican Radio is currently in Rio de Janeiro reporting on the Apostolic visit of Pope Francis to the Brazilian nation on the occasion of the XXVIII World Youth Day.He places this visit in continuity with the first such event which took place in Bergoglio's home town...:
Listen:
Everyone likes connections. Well, at least I do. They give me a sense of continuity and comprehension. They help me see things in a broader context and to confirm that nothing happens by chance and that, if you want to, you can find meaning even in minutia.
Like the fact of this being the first World Youth Day to be held in Latin America since the first World Youth Day, which was held - in Latin America - 26 years ago. And the fact that that Word Youth Day was held in Buenos Aires, which is the city of Pope Francis – for whom this will be his first-ever World Youth Day…insofar as he has apparently never attended a World Youth Day, anywhere before.
Then there’s the fact that Pope Francis “inherited” (so to speak) this appointment from his predecessor, Benedict XVI – who “inherited” his first World Youth Day (Cologne 2005) from John Paul II. And, if you want to take this whole connection thing even further, there’s the detail that the WYD symbol in Portuguese reads “JMJ” – which is the English acronym for Jesus, Mary and Joseph – which is the symbol that Pope Francis has emblazoned on his coat of arms. But maybe that is taking connections a bit too far.
Better to stick to the facts. Like, how many of the people of Rio who stopped in their tracks alongside the roadside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis as he drove by on his way from the airport to the Cathedral, were disappointed. Not because the papal motorcade didn’t proceed at a stately enough pace for them to see the smiling, waving Pope as he passed, but because they were looking at the wrong car. He wasn’t in the black limousine – he was in the hatchback utility vehicle. And there was no coincidence about that either.