EUROPE/SPAIN - The Church in Spain rejoices as Madrid is chosen to host WYD 2011: “it will place us in contact with the best of our tradition and the great ideals that have inspired us over the centuries and still do even now.”

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) – “I wish to express my gratitude, on behalf of the entire Diocese of Madrid, for this honor” said Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco, Archbishop of Madrid and President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, in a statement to the press following the Holy Father Benedict XVI’s announcement that the next WYD would be held in Madrid. “It is a gesture on the part of the Holy Father that we greatly appreciate and we thank Providence and the God of history who saw to it that the next WYD would be celebrated in Madrid. We are ready to make the due preparations. We are also counting on experience, as we already organized the fourth World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela, which was the second WYD to be celebrated outside Rome,” he explained.
As to the Spaniards commitment in organizing the event, he assured that the youth “have shown great faith and joy in being Christian, as well as their capacity to live their lives to the fullest, according to what the Pope mentioned on the relationship between the Holy Spirit, love, and man’s life. The youth give us some amazing lessons on what it means to be Christian and to be persons of human excellence.”
For Cardinal Rouco, WYD 2011 in Madrid will be a moment to be treasured, one that will offer very edifying results for the Church in Spain, as “it will place us in contact with the best of our tradition, the meaning of life, and the great ideals that have inspired us over the centuries and still do even now.” He also comments how this event arrives “at the perfect moment,” considering the circumstances of Spain at this time, where there is an “individualistic and materialistic” drive, but at the same time “new movements” are arising within the Church, showing themselves to be “very dynamic.” “WYD, in fact, is an excellent instrument for increasing missionary zeal in the Church, especially in terms of the youth. It is also an opportunity to help them rise above the materialistic and hedonistic vision of life.” WYDs are also “a moment and an opportunity for the youth to reflect on how to confront their lives.”
The Spanish youth have also shown their satisfaction and contentment at the news that Madrid will host WYD and are ready to collaborate in the preparations, expressing their hope that the event “will give new life to the Church in Spain, a country that has always been a land of missionaries. Although we are in a world of secularism and relativism, there is hope.”
Cardinal Rouco also noted the importance of volunteers and missionaries, pointing out that “for WYD to run smoothly, a significant number of volunteers – in the broadest sense of the term – is necessary.” “We need a lot of spiritual support from all our brothers and sisters, of all ages: especially the sick, the elderly, those who feel alone, those who are passing through difficulties. If they are capable of offering all this to the Church, so that the youth today may believe in Christ and be willing to live according to His Gospel and His Grace, it will be an extraordinary help.”
In celebrating WYD in Madrid, Cardinal Rouco will become the first Bishop to host WYD twice, something that he himself has described as “Providential and a grace from God.” WYD 1989 was celebrated in Santiago de Compostela, while Cardinal Rouco was serving as Archbishop there. It was the second WYD outside Rome, the first being in Buenos Aires (Argentina). In 1998, he was transferred to the Archdiocese of Madrid.
The President of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguierre, has also shown her satisfaction at the city’s election as the host for WYD and said that she considers it a great opportunity for the youth of Madrid, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, as the Pope is a universal authority. According to initial statements, WYD will be held August 15-21. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 23/7/2008)