Pope Draws New Vitality From Youth Day Flock

An invigorated Pope John Paul II, his frail body feeding on the energy of 400,000 young Catholics who came to see him, counseled the faithful in a strong voice Thursday that happiness can be found by discovering “the path of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world often laid waste by violence and terror.”

From a 25-foot-high platform reminiscent of a rock concert stage, John Paul delivered his prescription for a fulfilling life to the Roman Catholic Church’s next generation during the three-hour opening ceremony of World Youth Day, also dubbed “Popestock.”

The pope told his “dear young friends” that genuine satisfaction can be gained only by following the path walked by Jesus, who was “the poorest of the poor, the most gentle among the meek, the person with the purest and most merciful heart.”

“I have heard your festive voices, your cries, your songs, and I have felt the deep longing that beats within your hearts: You want to be happy,” said John Paul, who referred to himself as “the aged pope, full of years but still young at heart.”

His words were interrupted often by screams, applause and chants such as “John Paul Two, we love you!” from Catholics who came from 170 countries and ranged in age from roughly 15 to 35.

“To believe in Jesus is to accept what he says, even when it runs contrary to what others are saying,” said the pope, sitting in a large white and gold chair, his white hair ruffled by the warm summer breeze.

He used the venue on the shores of Lake Ontario to illustrate Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, a radical treatise on how followers of God should live, which the Gospels say was delivered on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Tiberias.

“Blessed are you if, like Jesus, you are poor in spirit, good and merciful,” the pope said. Before taking the stage, the pontiff spent nearly 30 minutes waving from the back of his Mercedes popemobile, which slowly weaved its way through the crowd with 10 bodyguards walking alongside.

As John Paul passed by, spectators snapped photos, cheered and waved their nations’ flags. Many wiped away tears.

“He’s supposedly very fragile,” said Maria Dimitriou, a 16-year-old from Whyalla, Australia. “But he has the power like no one else to reach inside us, grab our heart and kiss it.”

John Paul established World Youth Day in 1987 as a way to unite young Catholics, deepen their faith and increase their evangelical zeal. He has also been the featured attraction at each event; the turnout at one such encounter reached 4.5 million people. This year’s program in Canada has attracted only a fraction of the usual number of participants. Organizers attribute the lower turnout to post-Sept. 11 terrorism worries and doubts that the pope would be fit enough to travel.

But the 82-year-old pope’s physical feats, though modest, thrilled crowds here and surprised Vatican observers for the second time this week. Because of the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s disease, arthritis and other maladies, the pope recently has been too weak to finish even short speeches.

But this week, he stunned aides and a Toronto airport crowd by electing to walk down the steep steps of his private airplane after his flight from Italy. And during Thursday’s ceremony, John Paul spoke for long periods, alternating between English and French, and worked hard to lift his head high enough to make eye contact with the crowd and convey a smile.

Those close to the pope say the throngs of young people have restored some of the pontiff’s vigor.

“I think that the dynamic between this pope and young people is something very rich and very complex and cannot be explained in a few words,” said Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the Vatican’s spokesman. “It is something very profound.”

Near the end of Thursday’s ceremony, after John Paul playfully said goodbye in a number of languages, he motioned for some of the teenagers to come to him. Those wanting to touch him or get a blessing soon surrounded him. Alarmed cardinals and bishops at his side quickly broke up the crowd of admirers.

Events of World Youth Day, which is held about every two years, so far have provided a respite from controversies that have pounded the Catholic Church. The clergy sex scandal in the U.S. has been pushed aside temporarily by images of young Catholic faithful from across the globe walking, often hand in hand, through the streets of Toronto.

The pope refused Thursday to meet with representatives of the Canadian chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and he hasn’t mentioned the clergy scandal publicly. Also, questions about whether John Paul will or should resign have been quieted this week.

The pope is in the midst of an 11-day trip to the Americas. He is scheduled to leave Canada on Monday to travel to Guatemala and then to Mexico, where he will canonize Juan Diego, a 16th century Aztec peasant said to have encountered the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Guadalupe) near present-day Mexico City.

The pope plans to make two more public appearances for World Youth Day, presiding over a special service Saturday evening and conducting a Mass on Sunday.