Vatican City, Apr 4, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano called the presence of large numbers of young people in St. Peter’s Square gathered to pray for the Pope during his final hours a “spontaneous World Youth Day.”
The official Vatican daily noted the “moving testimony of prayer and affection of a generation who see him as their Pope.”
Pointing out that “this time it was not him who convened them,” the article emphasized that the thousands of young people “have come spontaneously,” moved by something in their souls. There was no need to schedule a date, a time or a place.
Lastly the Vatican paper noted that “this ‘appointment,’ which was not on anybody’s calendar, was already written on the schedules of everyone’s heart. Like an improvised and unscheduled World Youth Day.”