Just 19 days left…

The pope’s travel schedule for his visit to World Youth Day has been announced. Eva-Maria Baumgarten, of the Schoenstatt Youth will be among the 500 youth that will greet the Pope at the airport in Cologne

Faltan 25 días... y comienza la JMJ In only 25 days....WYD begins Noch 25 Tage bis zum Weltjugendtag
En Colonia, todo es preparación Cologne is preparing... Köln rüstet sich
En pocas semanas, la plaza en frente de la catedral de Colonia se llenará de jóvenes In few weeks, the place in front of the Cathedral will fill with youth In wenigen Wochen füllt sich die Domplatte mit Jugendlichen
Los que pasan por esa puerta, encontrarán un lugar de gracias... el Santuario de la Alianza con el Padre Those who walk through this gate, will find a place of grace...the Shrine of the Covenant with God the Father Hinter diesem Tor verbirgt sich ein Gnadenort…das Vaterbündnis-Heiligtum Fotos: POS Fischer © 2005
Catedral de Colonia Cologne Cathedral Kölner Dom mit dem Schrein der Heiligen Drei Könige Foto: Schick © 2005
Weltjugendtagskreuz unterwegs durch Deutschland Foto: Schick © 2005

WYD, mfk "What does this say, is it the news? A tourist from Holland asks her companion in the square of the cathedral in Cologne. "No"…she responds, "this is something about World Youth Day, it seems that youth from all over the world will come.." "Yes, they will come! And the Pope will also come along with hundreds of bishops and 6,500 newsmen. "It is just 21 days until World Youth Day", reads the sign in front of the cathedral. The WYD flags wave in front of it moved by the strong wind. In the meantime the schedule for the pope’s visit has been announced, the WYD Cross is on pilgrimage throughout Germany, from Dresden to Cologne, and the first youth are already on their way…

On the 18^th of August, Pope Benedict the XVI will arrive at the airport of Cologne – Bonn punctually at 12:00 p.m. About 500 youth will greet him; Eva Maria Baugmgarten, diocesan leader of the Schoenstatt Youth from Fulda, will also be there. It is a great joy and small sign on this special Covenant Day, in which the Schoenstatt youth wants to make a human chain that crosses Cologne, from the Schoenstatt Shrine to the cathedral, to announce to everyone: in the midst of the activity of WYD, in the midst of the Church, there is a place of grace, here the Blessed Mother works silently and with complete efficiency, as the Queen and Mother of the World Youth Day", the title with which the volunteers from Latin America, who have been working in the WYD office in Cologne for some time, crowned the Blessed Mother.

During the afternoon, the Holy Father will navigate through the Rhine from the pier of Rodenkrchener to Rheinwiesen where it will stop in front of the mooring berth. The youth will host a welcome celebration at that place. Five boats, representing the five continents, will accompany the Pope’s boat. Afterwards he will visit the cathedral of Cologne. After greeting and giving his blessing, the only trip by popemobile through Cologne lasting about 20 minutes, is planned. And surely, along the way he will meet the youth with the Schoenstatt flag! On August 19^th the Pope will meet with the seminarians from the whole world in the Church of St. Pantaleon.

Serenity in moments of anxiety

Thursday, there were terrorist attacks in London: again, fear, again nervousness, again the feeling of helplessness. On that day, the Chief of Police of Cologne, Klaus Steffehange, said, that so far there are no threats of terrorism during World Youth Day. "The police are well prepared and this is about a peaceful celebration of faith". Nevertheless, it is true that Germany – according to the official report – should consider itself as a "part of an area that is at risk". Besides the 4.000 German policemen, there will also be police agents from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, and France, the countries from which the majority of the pilgrims will come for WYD. The participants should expect to be subjected to rigorous controls at the entrances to the different ceremonies. In spite of all this, absolute security cannot be guaranteed, the general secretary of WYD, Hermann Josef Johanns, confessed. Shouldn’t the Blessed Mother from her Schoenstatt Shrine want to extend her protecting hands over the Pope and the youth from the whole world? Couldn’t we make contributions to the Capital of Grace instead of worrying and being anxious, asking for serenity in the midst of anxiety, and for the security of everyone?

From South Africa , from Paraguay….

Of the two hundred youth from Paraguay who will travel to WYD, ninety are Schoenstatters, and they know they are accompanied home by the prayers of the Schoenstatt Family, Michelle Adriaanse reports on how things are going in South Africa: "Jaqui is happy about WYD, she will be confirmed on the 24^th of July and she will leave soon. On the 23^rd of July our Archbishop will celebrate a Holy Mass sending forth all the youth that will travel to WYD. On the 30^th of July Jaqui will be sent forth from her parish. On the 22^nd we will start a novena to accompany her on her trip to WYD and to Schoenstatt. She will travel on July 31^st…"

In Burundi and in Senegal, in Bielorrusia and in Poland, in Chile and the United States, in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Canada,…Schoenstatt youth are preparing everywhere to travel to WYD. In Ecuador and in Texas there were pilgrimages with and for the youth who will travel to WYD and many preparations are taking place, there is much anticipated joy, but there are also worries about visas and giving up things, because there is simply not enough money, there have been no vacations…The first ones will arrive in Schoenstatt very soon!

And much more is history

And already there is much history, just as the previous WYD schedule, the nights of adoration by the Schoenstatt youth from Fulda in preparation for WYD, or pilgrimages of the cross and the icon of WYD through the dioceses of Germany. Both symbols were in Schoenstatt itself and many Schoenstatt Centers with its own schedule.. In many of the centers the symbols just "passed by", the last ones were Munster and Schoenstatt –Au en Borken. Now everyone anxiously waits for this August of 2005 and the "earthquake of graces" that many await. The sign in the square of the cathedral of Cologne reads: "There are only 19 days left until World Youth Day".

• Detailed information of WYD, with news, photos, and live transmissions (TV via Internet) of the main events, on www.wjt2005.de

• TV transmission direct from the main events, by station WDR (will be picked up by many national and international channels)

• Daily updates of the news and the Schoenstatt activities in WYD and the previous schedule, starting on the 1^st of August on www.schoenstatt.de

Translation: Celina M. Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA