Whenever two undergraduates grab a placard, bullhorn, and picketing license, most media outlets call it a story. But when nearly 3 million kids from all over the world traverse oceans, brave scorching temperatures, and defy the culture to answer the call of an 80 year-old Pope, most of the dominant media yawns and declares it a non-story. This “non-story” will haunt them for years to come.
On Saturday night, in an obscure field in a Roman suburb called Tor Vergata, Pope John Paul II issued a rallying cry, and in a subtle way, declared victory. After navigating through the millions of World Youth Day pilgrims straining to catch a glimpse of him, the Holy Father climbed a three story-tall dais and began the prayer vigil.
Looking out at the sea of sunburned youths before him, the Pope was obviously moved. Many of these young people had spent 24 hours in the scorching heat awaiting his arrival. A smile lit up his aged face. To chants of “John Paul II We Love You,” the Pope took his left hand in his right, and ignoring the limitations of his frail body, lifted them high above his head. He held this pose for several seconds.
It was the gesture of a victor, a warrior who after a long battle returns home to revel in his triumph.
The Pope had much to revel in that night. The fact that nearly 3 million young people were willing to endure great sacrifices to be in his presence was a confirmation of his message, and a sign that the future will bear the mark of John Paul the Second.
To the secular-minded these young people do not exist. Everyone under 40 is supposed to be satiating their every desire: consuming all they can, making their mark, getting their fill. But the Pope issues a radically different call. For more than 20 years he has been urging the young “to resist the tide,” to “be not afraid,” to sacrifice and to cling to Jesus Christ, “the answer to every human life.” The story here is not so much the content of this message as the fact that so many young people are listening — and it would appear, responding.
It is ironic that this has been the largest single gathering in Rome since World War II. Just as people were liberated from the terror of Nazism 55 years ago, so they came this week to be liberated from the interior enemy: sin.
Shattering estimates, millions of young people jammed the streets of the Eternal City to be purified. They waited for hours to seek absolution in outdoor “confession tents.” They prayed the Stations of the Cross. So many pilgrims attempted to squeeze through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica that the Pope had to designate a second door “holy” just to accommodate the overflow.
The crowd was so thick for the closing Papal Mass of World Youth Day that hosts had to be broken into pieces so everyone could receive Holy Communion. The Roman altar bread bakers simply could not meet the demand. And no one in Rome can remember the last time 600 bishops and Cardinals and over 2000 priests concelebrated Mass with the Pope.
Despite the large crowds, there was no dissent, no protests, no looting and no fires throughout the six-day youth celebration. I challenge the producers of any comparable secular youth event to try and make that same claim.
As he surveyed the throng before him on Saturday night, the Pope was not looking out on a “Catholic Woodstock” as the event has been described by USA Today. He was looking out at the future. He was surveying the progress of the human garden he has been tending for 22 years. In that field at Tor Vergata John Paul II was witnessing the Springtime of Christianity he has long envisioned for the Third Millennium.
“Dear friends,” the Pope told them, “at the dawn of the Third Millennium I see in you the morning watchman. In the course of the century now past, young people like you were summoned to huge gatherings to learn ways of hatred; they were sent to fight against one another. The various godless messianic systems which tried to take the place of Christian hope have shown themselves to be truly horrendous. Today you have come together to declare that in the new century you will not let yourselves be made into the tools of violence and destruction. You will defend peace, paying the price in your person if need be.”
The Vatican is describing this World Youth Day as the largest pilgrimage in history. By any measure, secular or spiritual, it was a home run. And though much of the media ignored the event, its fallout will be impossible to ignore. Armed with a clear conscience and the words of John Paul II ringing in their ears, these young people will return to the four corners of the world and begin a spiritual revolution.
Indeed, the media looked the other way. But somewhere in the Vatican, the Pope must be smiling to himself.
