IN COMING DAYS, ROME WILL BE CAPITAL OF WORLD'S YOUTH

VATICAN CITY, AUG 15, 2000 (VIS) - "It may be said that from today until Sunday, Rome will be the capital of the youth of the world!" It was with these words that, prior to reciting the angelus at Castelgandolfo, the Pope referred to the opening of World Youth Day, which will run from August 15 to 20.

After highlighting that "this year, August 15, at the heart of the Holy Year, marks the beginning of the world meeting of youth," the Pope gave thanks to the organizers and volunteers "for what they have already done and for what they will do over the coming days to ensure the success of the great Jubilee of youth." He also especially thanked "the families, parishes, schools and institutes that have opened their doors to welcome the young pilgrims who have come from all parts of the world."

The Holy Father also made reference to today's Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin, saying: "The Assumption of Mary Most Holy reminds us that our true homeland is heaven, (she) offers us her maternal aid to prepare us for the definitive meeting with Christ, at the end of our pilgrimage on earth."

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POPE OPENS WYD IN PRESENCE OF 600,000 YOUNG PEOPLE

VATICAN CITY, AUG 15, 2000 (VIS) - This evening in Rome, John Paul II welcomed more than 400,000 young people from 157 countries who filled St. Peter's Square and the Via della Conciliazione, inaugurating the 15th World Youth Day and the Jubilee of Young People. The Pope said, "dear friends from the five continents, I am happy to inaugurate with you this evening the Jubilee of Young People."

While young Italian participants in WYD had gathered at St. John Lateran, the welcome ceremony at St. Peter's was dedicated to young men and women from other countries. The two sites together held an estimated total of 600,000 young people. At 6:55 p.m., at the conclusion of the event at St. John Lateran, John Paul II crossed the center of Rome in popemobile, heading towards St. Peter's Square.

At around 7:15 p.m., the Pope's open-top vehicle entered the Via della Conciliazione, the great avenue that runs from the River Tiber to the Vatican, to tumultuous applause from the largest group of young people ever to gather in Rome. They filled both St. Peter's Square and the Via della Conciliazione and were able to follow events at St. John Lateran, the Pope's journey across Rome and the ceremony in the Vatican on giant television screens.

In his greeting, Cardinal James F. Stafford, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity asked for the Pope's prayers "that your dear young people will emerge from this Jubilee pilgrimage with their baptismal innocence renewed." A young woman from Korea and a young man from Guinea thanked the Pope for the invitation to come to Rome, "the city that bears the trace of so many saints and martyrs, where so many generations of Christians have lived their faith since the beginning of the Church."

John Paul II extended greetings in Italian: "After stopping at the Basilica of St. John lateran, the Cathedral of Rome, to greet the young people of Rome and Italy, I welcome you with joy. The Roman and Italian young people join me in offering you a most fraternal and heartfelt welcome.

"Your faces bring to mind, and in a way make present here, all the young people that it has been my privilege to meet on my apostolic journeys throughout the world in these years at the end of the millennium. To each of you I say: Peace be with you!"

The Pope then repeated his greetings and his wish for peace, continent by continent, naming the 157 countries that are represented in Rome over these days. "With special affection I greet the group of young people from countries where hatred, violence and war bring suffering to the life of entire populations. Thanks to the solidarity shown by all the youth here present, they have been able to come here this evening. To them I say, in your name as well, that in our gathering we are close to them as brothers and sisters; with all of you, I ask for them and for their people a time of peace in justice and freedom.

"I mention too the young people of other Churches and ecclesial communities who are here this evening with some of their pastors: May the World Youth Day be another occasion for us to know each other and to implore together from the Spirit of the Lord the gift of the perfect unity of all Christians!

"Dear friends from the five continents, I am happy to inaugurate with you this evening the Jubilee of Young People. Pilgrims in the footsteps of the Apostles, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!"

Following a musical interlude and a Gospel reading, John Paul II addressed the young people, mentioning his own spiritual formation and his priestly vocation: "I wish to bear witness to this faith here before all of you, young friends, at the tomb of the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord wished me to succeed as Bishop of Rome. Beginning with myself, today I wish to tell you that I believe firmly in Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, I believe, and I make my own the words of the Apostle Paul: 'The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.'

"I remember how as a child, in my own family, I learned to pray and trust in God. I remember the life of the parish that I attended, called after St. Stanislaus Kostka, in Debniki in Krakow. It was run by the Salesian Fathers, from whom I received my basic training in Christian living. I cannot forget the experience of the war and the years of work in a factory. My priestly vocation came to its full maturity during the Second World War, during the occupation of Poland. The tragedy of the war gave a particular coloring to the gradual maturing of my vocation in life. In these circumstances, I perceived a light shining ever more brightly within me: the Lord wanted me to be a priest! I remember with feeling that moment in my life when, on the morning of November 1 1946, I was ordained a priest.

My Credo continues in my present service to the Church. On October 16 1978, after my election to the See of Peter, when I was asked 'do you accept?' I answered 'with obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and trusting in the Mother of Christ and of the Church, no matter what the difficulties, I accept.' From that time on, I have tried to carry out my mission, drawing light and strength every day from the faith that binds me to Christ.

"But my faith, like that of Peter and like the faith of each one of you, is not just my doing, my attachment to the truth of Christ and the Church. It is essentially and primarily the work of the Holy Spirit, a gift of His grace. The Lord gives His Spirit to me as He gives Him to you, to help us say: 'I believe,' and then to use us to bear witness to Him in every corner of the world."

The Pope concluded by asking the young people that they convert these days into an experience of prayer, "as though they were a great week of spiritual exercises; look for times of silence, prayer and recollection. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your minds, ask Him for the gift of a living faith which will forever give meaning to your lives, joining them to Christ, the Word made flesh."

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TO YOUNG PEOPLE: WITNESS YOUR FAITH WITHOUT FEAR

VATICAN CITY, AUG 15, 2000 (VIS) - At 6 p.m. John Paul II, having travelled from Castelgandolfo, arrived in the square of St. John Lateran. He welcomed the young Italians gathered to meet him and thus opened the 15th World Youth Day which will continue until August 20.

As the popemobile moved through the packed square, it was preceded by a group of representatives from the 226 dioceses of Italy, each bearing a standard with their patron saint.

Prior to the Holy Father's greetings, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, recalled "that evening of March 30, 1985 'International Year of Youth,' during which, in this same square of St. John Lateran, Your Holiness met for the first time with young people from all over the world and thus initiated that extraordinary path of faith, of friendship, of fraternity, of shared happiness and of shared commitment, that later developed into the World Youth Days."

In his greetings to young Italians, the Holy Father said: "Over the coming days, in this city which houses the tombs and the memories of those who bore witness to the Savior of the world, may each young person encounter Jesus, He who knows the secret of true happiness and has promised it to His friends."

"Dear young pilgrims of the third millennium, live this World Youth Day with intensity. Through contact with so many of your peers who, like you, want to follow Christ, treasure the words you will hear from the bishops, accepting the voice of the Lord in order to strengthen your faith and bear witness to it without fear, in the knowledge that you are the heirs of a great past.
"In inaugurating your Jubilee, dear young men and women, I want to repeat the words with which I started my ministry as Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the Universal Church, I would like these words to guide you in your days in Rome: 'Do not be afraid! Open the doors, open wide the doors to Christ!' ... Let Christ reign in your young lives, serve Him with love. To serve Christ is to be free!"

Before closing his address the Pope, who was interrupted on various occasions by cheers and applause, joked about his age; to the young people's cries of "long live the Pope!" he responded: "He has been living for 80 years and the young people want him ever youthful."

Having concluded his speech, John Paul II travelled by popemobile to St. Peter's Square.

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THIRTY PERCENT MORE PARTICIPANTS THAN EXPECTED AT WYD

VATICAN CITY, AUG 15, 2000 (VIS) - According to the organizers, the first 24 hours of World Youth Day have seen the arrival of 30 percent more participants than expected. Today, in the square of St. John Lateran and in St. Peter's Square, along the papal route and in the streets of the city center, there were more than 600,000 young people.

The majority of the 2,741 places of accommodation are already full. Many groups are arriving in Rome without prior notice and are being directed by the reception organization to schools and parishes in the city.

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