VATICAN CITY, APR 1, 2000 (VIS) - Tens of thousands of university students in St. Peter's Square in Rome and at Marian shrines in Washington, D.C., Manila, Brazil, Fatima and Czestochowa were linked through satellite television this evening as the students in Rome led a torchlight procession to the square where, at 7 p.m., Rome time, everyone prayed the rosary with Pope John Paul II.
The ceremony in Washington, where about 10,000 young people participated, was presided over by Cardinal James Hickey, archbishop of Washington. A university student reflected on charity. Archbishop Rolando Tirona of Bulacan, the Philippines, presided in Manila where 4,000 students gathered to listen to a reflection on martyrdom.
Cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider, archbishop of Aparecida, led the celebrations at the shrine of Our Lady of the Apparition in Brazil, in the presence of 20,000 students, one of whom mediated on pilgrimages. In Fatima, Portugal, 500 students, one of whom reflected on the Holy Door, were led by Bishop Tomas Barbosa Da Silva Nunes, secretary of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference. An estimated 1,500 students gathered at the Polish shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in a ceremony presided over by Bishops Stanislao Nowak of Czestochowa and Henryk Tomasik, responsible for the pastoral care of university students in Poland.
After praying the rosary, the Holy Father greeted those gathered in St. Peter's Square and in the cities linked with Rome, speaking briefly to each group in their own language.
"I greet all of you who are taking part in this evocative celebration," he said, "as well as the recitation of the rosary on this First Saturday of April. You are very numerous and I thank you for your presence. Our prayer has been led by the theme 'Christ, Redeemer of Mankind'. This is an important theme which orients our reflection on the theme chosen for the Jubilee for university students, which will take place this year."
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