Pope was deeply moved by Madrid WYD, cardinal recalls
August 24, 2011
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Pope Benedict XVI was profoundly moved by the World Youth Day celebration in Madrid, and at times he was "so emotional, he almost wept," according to the city's archbishop.
Cardinal Antonio Maria Ruoco Varela of Madrid said that the Pontiff was particularly moved by the Stations of the Cross, at which hundreds of thousands of young people commemorated Christ's Passion in song and prayer.
The Spanish cardinal said that he regarded the Madrid World Youth Day as a great success. He said that the celebrations are steadily improving, and "every time are of less expressive superficiality, with greater loftiness of living and of profound effect on the heart and soul of the young people."
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Posted by: koinonia -
Aug. 27, 2011 12:19 AM ET USA
The Holy Father has indeed set a remarkable example for the faithful to date. But raising the question of concerns is not inconsistent with a candid approach to reality. Even the cardinal expressed his recognition that "the celebrations are steadily improving" with less "superficiality". Emotions can be dangerous. The Faith transcends human emotion by a long shot. While emotional, humans can easily overlook the obvious. I support the cardinal in recognizing there has been room for improvement.
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Posted by: florentine -
Aug. 25, 2011 12:25 AM ET USA
Yes, it was emotional, but the beauty of the particular emotions ... joy, hope, a love for Christ & His Church, and profound respect and genuine love for our "Papa" Benedict, IS an inspiration! The vast numbers of young who were there, and others, like myself, who were watching had to have been very spiritually motivated to love in truth and action by serving Christ and our neighbors daily. Our pope even teaches, by his example, how to be humble, reverent, & prayerfully silent before our Lord.
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Posted by: koinonia -
Aug. 24, 2011 9:08 PM ET USA
It is no fun to rain on parades, and somehow I feel like the guy with the shrill voice proclaiming the end of the world, but I have to reiterate this WYD phenomenom is just permeated with emotion. A mere day after my comment that the emotionalism so fundamentally interwoven with the event is a source of concern, it turns out the Holy Father himself was overcome with emotion. The word used was "emotional"- not inspirational, motivational, spiritual or other. How is this necessarily a good thing?
