Says Event Must Be Integrated into Life of Church
SYDNEY, Australia, MAY 15, 2007, Zenit.org - The real challenge of World Youth Day isn't in the logistics, but rather in integrating the event into the life of the Church, said the apostolic nuncio to Australia.
Archbishop Ambrose De Paoli said this in his address at the opening of the recent Australian bishops' conference plenary meeting in Sydney.
The nuncio noted that preparations for the event are well under way: "No one harbors any doubt as to the quality of the Australian welcome, which will be extended to the Holy Father, to other Church dignitaries, to the young people and others who come.
"But the nature of the event, a religious one, a special encounter of the young through the Church with the Jesus who came to give us life and life more abundantly, requires something more."
Archbishop De Paoli said that perhaps the most important part of any World Youth Day is the work of integrating the experience into the life of the Church.
The nuncio reminded the bishops: "As Church leaders, you will have to live in its aftermath, which will come to rest on your doorsteps as principal caretakers of the faith.
"It will offer a golden opportunity to look in upon yourselves, a mirror of the Catholicism in general of which you are the principal caretakers, but in particular as it relates to the young."
Code: ZE07051511
Date: 2007-05-15