Scottish Catholic Observer

Hello folks, WYD 2011 is officially underway! Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims packed into Madrid’s Cibeles Square and the surrounding streets for yesterday evening’s opening Mass, celebrated by the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela.

Rather than view the Mass from the stuffy confines of the press area, I decided to join pilgrims lining the Paseo de Recoletos, where it was, admittedly, every bit as stuffy! Even though the Mass began at 8pm, the baking Madrid heat ensured that the thousands of clergymen concelebrating with the cardinal had to protect themselves from the sunshine with white umbrellas.

Speaking to a girl from Motherwell Diocese prior to WYD, I recalled how much she talked about of the existence of flags at these events. Nowhere could that have been more true than at yesterday’s opening Mass, where every flag or banner imaginable must have been present.

I couldn’t even begin to guess how many pilgrims attended the Mass but the homily of Cardinal Rouco Varela was certainly well received. Although spoken in Spanish, it was not difficult to translate the congregation bursting into applause on several occasions, particularly at the mention of the founder of WYD, Blessed John Paul II, referred to by the cardinal as ‘the Pope of the young,’ and to whom yesterday evening’s Mass was dedicated.

As the congregation began to file back to all corners of Madrid following the Mass, I took a walk along the city’s Gran Via, where the air was filled with the sound of hymn singing and various national chants and dances. Pilgrims certainly seemed to be taking the words of Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko to heart, who said after the Mass, enjoy these ’days you will never forget.’

This morning, pilgrims have been attending Catechesis sessions led by bishops in churches throughout the Spanish capital, under the theme: Firm in the Faith. Having enjoyed an unanticipated long-lie, however, I opted to take a stroll through central Madrid’s Parque del Buen Retiro, where I enjoyed an outdoor exhibition charting the stages of the building of Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona, which was consecrated as a basilica of the city by Pope Benedict XVI last year.

Another source of joy for WYD pilgrims is the news that they will not have to wait another three years to do all this again. The next international gathering for WYD will take place in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro in 2013. The event has been brought forward a year so as not to coincide with Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I have already seen many pilgrim groups from Brazil, Argentina and Chile here in Madrid, where they have brought plenty of noise and colour to the gathering, so one can only imagine what they will produce in their home continent in two years time.

Over the next couple of days I hope to catch up with some of the Scottish pilgrim groups and share in their joy of welcoming the Holy Father to Madrid. As for now, I’m going to check out some of the cultural activities that Madrid is offering to pilgrims as part of the WYD programme.

Hasta luego