“Have no fear,” were the first words that His Excellency John Paul II addressed to the entire world from St. Peter’s Square on October 22, 1978 – From that moments tter to uder as much.
From 1985, the Church has seen the surging of the World Youth Day celebrations. Its genesis – recalls the Holy Father – was the Jubilee Year of the Redemption and the International Year of the Youth, convoked by the United Nations Organization that same year.
the Youth, convoked by the United Nations Organization that same year.
The young people were invited to Rome. And that was the beginning… After the liturgy on the inauguration day of the pontiff that October 22 he told the young people in St. Peter’s Square, “You are the hope of the Church and of the world. You are my hope.”
During the World Youth Day in Toronto, where young people from five continents participated, he addressed them with the following words, “You are young and the Pope is old and yet he identifies with your dreams and your hopes,” demonstrating the place where the young people occupy in the heart of the Holy Father. “You are my hope…” are words that he constantly repeats to them.
