All in Spain must make a commitment to WYD 2011, says cardinal

Madrid, Spain, Aug 7, 2008 / 22:20 pm

The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela explained that the next World Youth Day, scheduled to take place in 2011, will require the people of Madrid to have a strong “commitment to apostolic character.”

In an article published by the local press, the prelate exclaimed, “We must have a commitment to the Church in Madrid and throughout Spain!  It is a commitment, but above all, apostolic character that concerns us all.  Nautrally, it concerns the pastors and faithful, but very directly and specifically, the young people!” 

The archbishop of Madrid also stressed that the designation of the Spanish capital to host the next World Youth Day (WYD) is a “singular grace of the Lord.”  He then called diocesan churches “to recognize and remember the great heritage of holiness and missionary spirit, inherited from our elders, for the sake of young people from Spain and the world.”

He then recalled the fruits of countless conversions, vocations and “commitments to apostolic life” brought about by various WYDs.

Cardinal Rouco explained that the initiative of the Servant of God Pope John Paul II to convene WYD was born “as a result of the obvious pastoral concern” from “a Pope who deeply loves the young.”

He also noted that the success of previous WYDs, from Rome to Sydney, “are unequivocal proof of the success of the pastoral way and the way chosen for the gathering of youth of the third millennium with Jesus Christ.”