Pope meets 7000 young Spanish hosts of 2011 World Youth Day

(April 6, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday received in the Vatican some 7000 youth from Spain who came to Rome to receive the World Youth Day Cross on Palm Sunday from their Australian counterparts who hosted last year’s global celebration of World Youth Day in Sydney. The next international celebration of the event is scheduled for 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid, accompanied the young Spaniards to the meeting with Pope Benedict in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall. Pope Benedict reminded the youth that “World Youth Days manifest the dynamism of the Church and her eternal youth.” He further explained that “faith needs to be seen and touched,” and that the Cross is a concrete and basic symbol of Christianity. He said he felt happy that the cross they have received will be carried in procession on Good Friday through the streets of Madrid where it will be acclaimed and venerated. Pope Benedict urged the young Spaniards to learn how to attract their peers, their fellow students and workers so that all may be able to know the Lord and entrust their lives to Him. Accompanying the Cross is also an icon of the Virgin Mary. The Pope wished that the Cross and the icon be for all a sign of the invincible love of Christ and His and our Mother. After Good Friday’s veneration in Madrid, the World Youth Day Cross and the Madonna’s icon will make their rounds in various dioceses of Spain before they return to Madrid in August, 2011 for the World Youth Day, whose theme is "Rooted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith."