VATICAN CITY, APR 9, 2006 (VIS) - Following this morning's solemn liturgical celebration for Palm Sunday, and prior to praying the Angelus, the Pope addressed some words to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Benedict XVI reminded those present that after the Marian prayer a delegation of young people from Cologne, Germany, where last year's World Youth Day was celebrated, will consign the WYD cross to young people from Sydney, Australia, site of World Youth Day 2008. "This is the cross," said Benedict XVI, "that the beloved John Paul II entrusted to young people in 1984 that they might carry it around the world as a sign of Christ's love for humanity," together with another sign of WYD, an icon of the Virgin Mary.
"This handing over of the cross," the Holy Father went on, "has become a tradition, ... a highly symbolic tradition to be practiced with great faith, and the commitment to follow a journey of conversion in the footsteps of Jesus.
"This faith is taught us by Mary Most Holy, who was the first 'to believe' and carried her own cross together with the Son, later tasting with Him the joy of the resurrection. For this reason the young people's cross is accompanied by an icon of the Virgin, representing the image of Mary 'Salus Populi Romani' which is venerated in the Roman Basilica of St. Mary Major, the oldest basilica dedicated to Mary in the West."
The cross and the image of the Virgin will travel through various African countries, said the Holy Father, "in order to express the closeness of Christ and His Mother to the people of that continent, tried by so much suffering." It will arrive in Oceania in February 2007, travelling through various Australian diocese before reaching Sydney in July 2008.
ANG/CROSS:WYD/... VIS 20060410 (310)
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