Pilgrims launch giant party for Pope
SPAIN: Hundreds of thousands of sweltering pilgrims crammed into
central Madrid for a giant open-air mass Tuesday, launching a
million-strong, six-day Catholic youth party for Pope Benedict XVI.
The rock-festival style celebration of World Youth Day has drawn
faithful from 193 nations, according to organisers but also criticism in
the midst of Spain’s economic hardship.
From a vast white stage adorned with an image of Mary and Jesus
before City Hall in the emblematic Plaza Cibeles square, Madrid’s
archbishop, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, celebrated the
inaugural mass in the evening.
Some 800 bishops, archbishops and cardinals from around the world
joined him, many shielding themselves from the sun with white umbrellas.
Another 8,000 priests concelebrated the mass.
The service, accompanied by hundreds of choristers, was dedicated to
the late Pope John Paul II. AFP
|