World Youth Day 2011
The XXVI. World Youth Day took place in Madrid from August 15-21, 2011 . After the XXIII. World Youth Day in Sydney had Pope Benedict XVI. invited to Spain .
The World Youth Day was held in Spain for the second time - in 1989 the IV World Youth Day took place in Santiago de Compostela with half a million participants .
Host of the XXVI. World Youth Day was the Archbishop of Madrid , Antonio María Cardinal Rouco Varela . As Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Rouco Varela had already organized the 4th World Youth Day in 1989 . In an initial statement, he drew attention to the extraordinary value that the Madrid meeting meant for the Church in Spain . He received the message "with joy, gratitude and happiness".
Motto and patronage
The motto of the meeting was taken from the second chapter of Colossians:
“Rooted in Him and founded on Him, firm in the faith” ( Col 2,7 EU ).
The patrons of this World Youth Day were the canonized John of the Cross , Ignatius of Loyola , Francisco de Xavier , Isidore of Madrid , Maria Toribia , Rafael Arnáiz Barón , John of Avila , Teresa of Avila and Rosa von Lima as well as the canonized John Paul II.
course
On the evening of August 16, the inaugural Mass, held by the Archbishop of Madrid and a host of other bishops and priests, was celebrated in Cibeles Square in Madrid. The following day, among other things, a Eucharistic Adoration took place in the Las Ventas bullring . Pope Benedict XVI arrived at Barajas Airport on August 18 at 12 noon and was received by King Juan Carlos I , Queen Sofía and the Archbishop of Madrid , Rouco Varela . Then he drove into the city in the popemobile .
On the morning of August 19, the Pope visited the King and Queen in the Zarzuela Palace . The Crown Prince couple Felipe and Letizia and the Infanta Elena were also present with their children. During the visit there was also a private conversation between the Pope and the King. From the palace, Benedict XVI. for a meeting with young women religious and university lecturers in the El Escorial monastery in the north-west of Madrid.
In the evening the Pope prayed the Way of the Cross with young people in downtown Madrid. For this purpose, historical groups of figures from different regions of Spain were brought to Madrid and placed between the Plaza de Colón and the Plaza de Cibeles . Young people from all over the world carried the World Youth Day Cross to the various stations. The prayers themselves pointed to today's suffering: war, persecution, drug addiction, terrorism and marginalization.
On August 20, the Pope held a mass for prospective priests in Almudena Cathedral . In the evening he met young people with physical and intellectual disabilities as well as their families and carers in front of the Fundación Instituto San José . Then he celebrated a vigil at Cuatro Vientos airport with hundreds of thousands of young people, according to other information over a million took part, with many emergency missions due to the heat and subsequent storms.
The big closing fair took place on August 21st. The Spanish royal couple and more than a million pilgrims took part in it. Due to the nocturnal storms, some of the tent chapels in which consecrated hosts were kept collapsed. Therefore, Holy Communion could not be received by all pilgrims at Mass.
Controversies and protests
140 organizations called for a demonstration against the Pope's visit on August 17, 2011 under the motto “Not a cent of my taxes for the Pope”. The organizers, on the other hand, stated that World Youth Day was self-financed through donations and entrance fees. Government representatives stated that Spain was benefiting more from the Pope's visit than was being spent. The cost of the World Youth Day should amount to around 50 million euros, the city council expects 150 to 250 million euros more income from the pilgrims.
State authorities initially issued a ban, but eventually gave permission for a protest demonstration. Violent clashes between demonstrators and police broke out in the course of the protests. Eleven people, including two police officers, were injured; six people were arrested. Juan Antonio Martínez Camino , spokesman for the Spanish Bishops' Conference, described the young protesters as "parasites".
Arrest after the attack was announced
According to the Spanish police , on August 16, 2011, a planned chemical weapons attack on opponents of the Pope was thwarted by the arrest of a suspect. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, it is an "ultra-Catholic" Mexican chemistry student who has demanded in relevant Christian Internet forums that the nerve agent sarin be used against opponents of the Pope. The 24-year-old José Pérez Bautista, who was arrested without resistance, was a volunteer at the World Youth Day and was imprisoned for terrorist offenses . He was released on August 19th.
The Austrian youth bishop Stephan Turnovszky , who was present at the World Youth Day, expressed horror at the attack plan and described it as harmful to the church.
On August 17, 2011, police said there was a definite risk. On August 18, 2011, the suspect was released against restrictions. Prosecutors believed he did not have the chemicals to carry out an attack.
Management criticism
Simon Rapp , Association of the German Catholic Youth , criticized the insufficient supply of the participants with water at temperatures of up to 40 ° C as well as chaos and insufficient capacity in the accommodations.
Web links
- Official website of World Youth Day
- Message from Pope Benedikt XVI. for World Youth Day 2011
- Portal of the German-speaking WYD 2011 reporting from domradio.de
- Link catalog on World Youth Day 2011 at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
Individual evidence
- ^ Announcement of the World Youth Day in Madrid
- ↑ Saints and Patrons of XXVI. World Youth Day
- ↑ WYD Vigil at Vatican Radio .
- ↑ Injured by heat and storms during the Pope's visit , Welt Online, August 21, 2011
- ^ World Youth Day in Madrid . Website of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ↑ a b http://www.suedostschweiz.ch/politik/grunes-licht-fur-demonstration-gegen-papst-besuch-madrid
- ^ Before the Pope's visit: Attack on the sidelines of World Youth Day in Madrid foiled , Tagesspiegel , August 17, 2011
- ↑ Spanish police crack down on opponents of the Pope , Spiegel Online , August 18, 2011
- ^ Uprising of the "Parasiten" Süddeutsche Zeitung on August 18, 2011
- ↑ a b Before the Pope's visit, the batons rule , Focus , August 18, 2011
- ↑ Police thwart possible attack during Pope's visit , Spiegel Online , August 17, 2011
- ↑ Manuel Altozano: El estudiante que amenazó con atentar contra los laicos era voluntario de la JMJ , El País , August 17, 2011
- ↑ The truth about the “excesses” during the WYD Pope's visit to Madrid - An overview , Catholic magazine for church and culture
- ^ Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna appalled by the attack plan , Die Presse , August 17, 2011
- ↑ Planned attack in Madrid: Richter releases chemistry students , Spiegel online, August 19, 2011
- ↑ http://www.muenchner-kirchenradio.de/nachrichten/nachrichten/article/bdkj-kritisiert-organisation-des-weltjugendtags.html ( Memento from May 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )