Pope Benedict XVI leads 7,000 students in prayer vigil.

(March 11, 2006) : As part of the 4th European Day for Universities, Pope Benedict XVI met with 7,000 students on Saturday evening, March 11, for an evening of Marian prayer. The theme of this year's meeting was, "Christian humanism, the path of a new cooperation between Europe and Africa." The prayer vigil sponsored by the Rome diocese and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences, was linked by satellite with other groups meeting simultaneously in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Nigeria. The meeting began at 5 p.m. with the entrance of the university students' cross followed by the presentation of the European and African delegations. Pope Benedict arrived at 6 pm and recited the rosary with the students with the contemplation on the Glorious Mysteries. After the rosary, Pope Benedict addressed the participants and distributed copies of his first Encyclical "Deus caritas est" to ten student representatives and imparted his apostolic blessing. In keeping with tradition, the Day concluded with the pilgrimage of the cross from the Paul VI Hall to the Church of St. Agnes in Rome's Piazza Navona.