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C§ % § o S Co X o CO o r-a . CO I 00 0.' co ☆ The ☆ Sou Diocese of Savannah mm ☆ hern Ooss 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