World Youth Day inauguration Mass celebrated by Madrid's Cardinal Rouco

(August 17, 2011) The 26^th World Day of Youth, WYD, officially opened on Tuesday in the Spanish capital Madrid with a Mass presided over by the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardianl Antonio Maria Rouco Varela. Pope Benedict XVI will arrive in Madrid on Thursday 18^th August and return to Rome on Sunday at the conclusion of WYD. Thousands of young people participated in the Mass held in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles. In his homily, Cardinal Rouco said World Youth Day is inseparable from Blessed John Paul II, "the pope of the young," whose memory they celebrated with the Mass. He said “The relationship Blessed John Paul had with the young was unprecedented. Imbued with a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the youth were full of hope and joy. Cardinal Rouco said “This tradition has continued with Pope Benedict XVI, who did not hesitate to highlight Blessed John Paul's love of the young in his homily for his predecessor's beatification in May. World Youth Day inspires a new encounter with the Lord,” Cardinal Rouco told the vast gathering of youth. "He is the only one who can understand you and lead you to the truth, giving life that never ends. He said “Young people are looking for Christ. Letting oneself be found by him is the key to the success of any World Youth Day.”
After the celebration of Mass, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity welcomed the crowd. He told them that the event for which they had been waiting and preparing had finally arrived. "These will be days you will never forget," he said, "days of important discoveries and decisions that will be decisive for your future. In a world, where so many people reject God, World Youth Day shows that the Catholic faith lives”, said Cardinal Rylko.
The theme of this year's World Youth Day is "Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith”