Pope marks John Paul’s 4th death anniversary

(April 3, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI called Pope John Paul II a "bold and daring" defender of Christ who never hesitated to spend all his energy to spread the word of God. The Pope said this on Thursday at an evening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in commemoration of the fourth death anniversary of the late pope. Thousands of youth packed Christendom’s largest church for a liturgy which formed part of the World Youth Day celebrations, which this year are being observed at the diocesan level on Palm Sunday. The Pope affirmed that throughout John Paul II's life, he "showed himself a bold and daring defender of Christ." "He did not accept to give in to compromises when it was a question of proclaiming and defending Christ's truth; he never tired of spreading Christ's love. Pope Benedict addressed young people from Sydney and Madrid, coming from the last and the next host cities of World Youth Day, who joined those from Rome as well as from Poland in the basilica. Pointing to the danger that “Christian hope” in our days might be “reduced to ideology, group slogan, an outer cover in our times, Pope Benedict urged young people to be the true “hope” of the Church which is based on the firm ‘rock’ of a personal contact with Christ. This friendship, he said, is nurtured through prayer and the sacraments.