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Pope Benedict XVI- Angelus |
Angelus
On 25 Years of World Youth Days
"I Renew this Call to the New Generation to Give Witness"
H.H. Benedict XVI
March 28, 2010
www.zenit.org
As we conclude this celebration our thoughts cannot but turn to the Palm
Sunday of 25 years ago. It was 1985 that the United Nations declared the
as "Year of Young People." Venerable John Paul II wanted to welcome that
occasion and, commemorating Christ's entrance into Jerusalem, acclaimed
by his disciples, initiated the World Youth Days. Since then Palm Sunday
has acquired this characteristic that every two or three years it is
also marked by great global meetings, tracing a kind of pilgrimage of
young people across the whole planet, following Jesus.
Some 25 years ago my beloved predecessor invited young people to profess
their faith in Christ, who "who took man's cause upon himself" (Homily,
March 31, 1985, nos. 5 and 7: Insegnamenti VIII, 1 [1985], 884, 886).
Today I renew this call to the new generation to give witness by the
meek and luminous power of the truth, so that the men and women of the
third millennium do not lack the most authentic model: Jesus Christ. I
give this mandate especially to the 300 delegates of the International
Youth Forum, who have come from every part of the world. The forum was
convoked by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
[After these remarks the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims in various
languages. In English he said:]
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors at this Angelus,
especially the young people present who are celebrating the twenty-fifth
World Youth Day. Today we also begin Holy Week, the Church's most
intense time of prayer and reflection, by recalling Jesus' welcome into
Jerusalem by the children. Let us make their joy our own, by welcoming
Christ into our lives, our hearts and our families. Upon you and your
loved ones, I gladly invoke the strength and peace of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
[The Holy Father said in Italian:]
In this moment our thoughts and our hearts are directed in a special way
toward Jerusalem, where the paschal mystery was accomplished. I am
deeply saddened by the recent conflicts and for the tensions that have
again arisen in that city, which is a spiritual homeland for Christians,
Jews and Muslims, prophecy and promise of that universal reconciliation
that God desires for the whole human family.
Peace is a gift that God entrusts to human responsibility so that it
might be cultivated through dialogue and respect for the rights of all,
reconciliation and forgiveness. Let us pray therefore that those who are
responsible for the fate of Jerusalem enter the way of peace with
courage and follow it with perseverance!
Dear brothers and sisters! As Jesus did with his disciple John, I too
entrust you to Mary, saying to you: Behold your mother (cf. John 19:27).
To her we turn with filial confidence, reciting the Angelus prayer.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
© Copyright 2010 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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