YOUCAT.org and WYD2011, Cardinal Pell, and "Do not be afraid..."

YOUCAT.org is the official site in Europe for the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, and it has a number of good articles and photos from World Youth Day in Madrid. They include stories about:

• 180 Catholic students from New York City at WYD
• the impact of WYD on vocations to the priesthood and religious life
• photos of Benedict XVI's arrival in Madrid
• theology of the body and YOUCAT; the challenge!, which includes this interesting bit of conversation with a WYD attendee:

What was the most important thing that you learnt today from the Theology of the Body panel?

John: That we should look at women and girls as more than their bodies. We should search for what is good and beautiful about the whole person, and not just look at women and girls for their bodies.

Were you suprised by anything you heard today about The Theology of the Body?

Stefan: Yes. When Jason Evert [of Catholic Answers] explained that the church isn´t just about what we should or shouldn´t do with our girlfriends and how far we can go without sinning, I was really suprised. Jason Evert explained that the church wants us to go all the way to being good, happy and faithful husbands and fathers.

• "The World Celebrates Christ"
• "What are YOU taking home from WYD?"

And much more.

Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney (and author of an Ignatius Press book, Issues of Faith and Morals), gave an address at WYD, as reported by Australian Catholic News:

The Cardinal received a rousing, warm welcome at Madrid's Palacio de Deportes stadium which has been temporarily re-named the "Love and Life Centre."

The message for the pilgrims, including most of the nearly 4,000 Australian pilgrims also in Madrid, was emphatic with Cardinal Pell explaining the clear and strong reasons behind the Catholic belief in the one true God.

"Christian belief is not a myth of just a useful make-believe story like Santa Claus," he said. "Our God is inherently rational. Our faith is not based on religious sentiment. Faith is a matter of the heart, an issue of the mind, because it is a claim to truth."

The Cardinal also threw out a challenge to the young pilgrims, telling them they were presented with two choices – whether our existence came about by chance or by supreme intelligence.

What did they think? He asked. He then presented the case for supreme intelligence, giving the thousands of young people much to think about and reflect upon.

Emphasising the point that science and religion are not at loggerheads, he said and quoted the late, former atheist and renowned philosopher, Anthony Flew who after turning his back on atheism at the end of his life to become a believer, said that the greatest discovery of modern science was God.

Anthony Flew became a believer through the discovery of DNA.

"We need to remember science is with us and that our God of love, that dynamo of love, is rational," the Cardinal said. "So let's commit ourselves to maintaining the light of our faith and that the flame doesn't die in your families or parishes."

Read the entire report. Finally, in reading some of the Holy Father's addresses, I was struck by these serene yet challenging remarks from his final address:

I leave Spain very happy and grateful to everyone. But above all I am grateful to God, our Lord, who allowed me to celebrate these days so filled with enthusiasm and grace, so charged with dynamism and hope. The feast of faith which we have shared enables us to look forward with great confidence in Providence, which guides the Church across the seas of history. That is why she continues to be young and full of life, even as she confronts challenging situations. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who makes Jesus Christ present in the hearts of young people in every age and shows them the grandeur of the divine vocation given to every man and woman. We were also able to see how the grace of Christ tears down the walls and overcomes the barriers which sin erects between peoples and generations, in order to make all mankind a single family which acknowledges its one Father and which cultivates, by work and respect, all that he has given us in creation.

Young people readily respond when one proposes to them, in sincerity and truth, an encounter with Jesus Christ, the one Redeemer of humanity.  Now those young people are returning home as missionaries of the Gospel, "rooted and built up in Christ, and firm in the faith", and they will need to be helped on their way.  So I urge Bishops, priests, Religious and Christian educators in particular, to care for those young people who want to respond enthusiastically to the Lord's call.  There is no reason to lose heart in the face of the various obstacles we encounter in some countries.  The yearning for God which the Creator has placed in the hearts of young people is more powerful than all of these, as is the power from on high which gives divine strength to those who follow the Master and who seek in him nourishment for life.  Do not be afraid to present to young people the message of Jesus Christ in all its integrity, and to invite them to celebrate the sacraments by which he gives us a share in his own life.

Read the entire address on the Vatican website. For more about the Youth Catechism, visit www.YouCat.us.