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Vol. 81, No. 15
Thursday, April 12, 2001
$.50 PER ISSUE
Pope to youths on Palm Sunday: “Christ’s cross is sign of love’s power”
“Jesus voluntarily handed himself
over to the passion; he was not
crushed by forces greater than him
self. He freely faced the death of the
cross and, in death, triumphed,” the
pope said. Even as the church focus
es on the horrors of Jesus’ arrest, his
crucifixion and his death, it remem
bers the triumph of his resurrection
and his victory over death, the source
of salvation.
Looking at the cross, he said, “We
see Jesus, the son of God who be
came man to restore man to God. He,
without sin, is crucified before us.
He is free, even though he is nailed
to the wood.”
“He has given his life, but no one
has taken it from him. He gave it for
us. Through his cross, we have life,”
the pope said.
Basilian Father Thomas Rosica,
director of World Youth Day 2002,
said Canada’s preparations for the
2002 gathering will focus on empow
ering young leaders to help their
peers show the world the beauty of
Christian faith. “World Youth Day
has to be put on by young people for
young people,” he said.
The 47 youths in the Canadian del
egation to Rome, including young
natives, will be the organizers of the
event in their dioceses and on a
national level.
The 13-foot-tall wooden World
Youth Day cross, which was carried
on foot through the streets of Rome
to Saint Peter’s Square April 7, was
to arrive in Ottawa April 11 on an
Air Canada flight. After that, it will
cross the country by helicopter,
snowmobile, barge, dogsled and
flatbed truck, Father Rosica said.
While it will stand in the midst of
most local youth gatherings, it will
have to be laid flat during some gath
erings in many of the native commu
nities of the Northwest Territories
and Nunavut, “because the buildings
are too low,” he said.
Layman extraordinaire
—see page 3
By Cindy Wooden
Vatican City (CNS)
T he cross of Christ is a sign that
self-giving love is the path of
salvation and happiness, Pope John
Paul II said as he celebrated Palm
Sunday and World Youth Day.
“I point out to each and every one
of you the cross of Christ, the path of
life and salvation, the way to reach
the palm of triumph on the day of
resurrection,” he told an estimated
30,000 people gathered for Mass in
Saint Peter’s Square.
The April 8 liturgy began with a
procession of palm-bearing youths
from Canada, Italy, Luxembourg,
Spain, France and Croatia.
The pope rode in an open jeep
behind the procession of concelebrat-
ing priests, bishops and cardinals,
including Cardinal Aloysius
Ambrozic of Toronto and U.S.
Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, presi
dent of the Pontifical Council for the
Laity, organizer of World Youth Day.
After Communion, the pope
watched as young people from Rome
passed the World Youth Day cross to
young people from Canada, who will
host the July 18-28, 2002, interna
tional celebration in Toronto.
The Canadian youths were led by
their native peers, beating drums and
chanting.
Pope John Paul also announced
that the theme of the 2002 celebra
tion will be “You are the salt of the
earth ... you are the light of the
world.”
“Dear young people,” he told the
Canadians, “get ready to welcome
the young people of the world to
your beautiful country by renewing
your own fidelity to Christ the
Lord.” And he saluted them, “Until
we meet in Toronto!”
To the French-speaking youths, he
said the preparations also should be
an occasion for “a renewed witness
of your charity and the joyous open
ing of your hearts.”
Speaking in Polish, he added, “I
Bishop J. Kevin Boland blesses palms at the beginning of
Mass on Passion Sunday, April 8, at the Cathedral of Saint
John the Baptist.
hope that the land of Canada will be
a place where the hearts of many
young people will be reborn so that
they become salt of the earth and
light for the world.”
As members of the crowd waved
palms, olive branches and pussy wil
lows—a tradition in much of Eastern
Europe—the pope told them, “Do
not be afraid of walking the path that
the Lord walked first because love,
the gift of one’s self, is the only path
which can save the world and lead to
the fullness of life and of happiness.”
In his homily, the pope said the
palms of Christ’s triumphant entry
into Jerusalem and the cross of his
death are not contradictory signs, but
signs of the mystery the church has
proclaimed throughout history.
“\Death will stand stupefied”
—see page 4
The Face to air
—see page 11