Today at 6pm, Pope Benedict arrived at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin for the first Celebration of the Holy Eucharist of this year’s visit to Germany. After arriving and the traditional drive-through, the Holy Father was welcomed by the Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit. The Stadium was filled to capacity, with some 70,000 people in ...read more

Today, Thursday, September 22, Pope Benedict began his first State Visit to Germany with a visit to the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament. This is the third time that a Pope addresses a Federal Parliament: Pope John Paul II addressed the Parliaments in Warsaw and in Rome. The Holy Father reminds German politicians that ...read more

Pope Benedict arrived in his native journey this morning. Salt + Light’s coverage (on TV and streaming online) of the four-day papal visit begins today at 10:00am ET. Today’s schedule is below: Highlights of Pope Benedict’s arrival at the Berlin Tegel International Airport, including the Welcome Ceremony at Bellevue Castle 10:00am – 10:15am ET / ...read more

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Germany this morning. During the welcoming ceremony, attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff, the Holy Father said he had “not come primarily to pursue particular political or economic goals … but rather to meet people and to  speak about God.” Mr President of the Federal Republic, Ladies ...read more

This coming Sunday, the Archdiocese of São Paulo and the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) will host the first preparatory event leading to World Day Youth Day 2013. The event will mark the arrival to Brazil of the WYD Cross and the Icon of Our Lady. It will be attended by the Archbishop ...read more

Do you have to attend World Youth Day in order to have a ‘World Youth Day experience’? That’s the question Pedro Guevara-Mann is asking on Perspectives Weekly. Joining him for this discussion are Father Chris Valka, CSB and S+L Associate Producers Andrew Santos and Cheridan Eygelaar. Having recently returned from Madrid — the site of ...read more

I returned home from World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain almost two weeks ago — honestly, one of the most incredible trips of my life. There are no words to express how I feel. I still find myself wrapped with plenty of emotion and with a ton of WYD withdrawal. That’s to be expected with any sort of trip, ...read more

Last Tuesday, we kicked-off our WYD experience with the gathering for Canadian pilgrims – a first in WYD history and a wonderful way to begin our week. Yesterday, the feast of St. Rose of Lima, I had the chance to end my WYD experience with another national gathering – this one for Panamanian pilgrims that ...read more

The following post was contributed by Stefanie Romano, a team leader from the Archdiocese of Toronto Office of Catholic Youth. The OCY Toronto pilgrims visited Rome before heading to World Youth Day in Madrid. I am amazed at how active the spirit has been. Praise be to Jesus for carrying us through this miraculous day. ...read more

The following post was contributed by Stefanie Romano, a team leader from the Archdiocese of Toronto Office of Catholic Youth. The OCY Toronto group traveled to Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day. At my previous international WYD in Sydney, I visited a sheep-shearing station in the countryside. It was an odd day-trip, but Australia is ...read more