EUROPE/ITALY - In preparation for 5th European University Day, students at pontifical Universities in Rome welcome Pilgrimage of the Cross: March 1st, feast in honour of Don Bosco at UPS

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The 21 February, Ash Wednesday, marked the beginning of a Pilgrimage of the Cross to the various pontifical universities in Rome. For the students this Peregrinatio Crucis has become a significant tradition during Lent in preparation for their meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on the European Day for University Students, 10 March 2007 (see Fides 20/1/2007). The theme chosen for this year “Intellectual charity, a path for new Europe-Asia cooperation”, was drawn from the Holy Father’s new year address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. In that address speaking about Asia the Pope recalled its “very large population and enormous economic development”, and “its Christian communities, small but active” “rightfully desire to live and act in a situation of religious freedom”. Their recognition, the Holy Father added, “is both a natural right and a condition to enable them to contribute to the material and spiritual development of society and to be an element of unity and harmony”. In the spirit of these words the students will gather on March 10 around Pope Benedict XVI in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican for a Marian Vigil and the Rosary Prayer in live TV link with students in Prague, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Bologna, Krakow, Torino, Manchester, Manila, Coimbra, Tirana and Islamabad.
Tomorrow Thursday 1 March, half way through its pilgrimage, the Cross will be welcomed by the Pontifical Salesian University on the occasion of the feast which the UPS community dedicates to Don Bosco. Before a Concelebration of the Eucharist presided by Salesian Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop of Hong Kong, there will be a Seminar with the title: “Don Bosco’s system of preventive education, the past and today’s challenges”, with interventions by Carlo Nanni, Prof. Aldo Giraudo and Cardinal Joseph Zen, who will speak about preventive education in China. On March 10th in Hong Kong the Cardinal will preside the prayer vigil of Chinese students in live TV link with the Vatican. For a providential coincidence he was able to be present for this central stop on the Pilgrimage of the Cross to the various pontifical universities. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 28/2/2007, righe 27, parole 354)