Just a 30 minute train ride from Madrid, in the region of Castilla – La Mancha, lies Toledo. Today it’ a small town with medieval roots and a whole host of inhabitants who commute to work in Madrid every day on the high speed AVE train. In it’s bricks however, one glimpses the days when ...read more

Working at World Youth Day is like working inside a laboratory where everything happens fast, loudly and with an explosion of colour…and all of it is fueled by a faith that needs to be shared. Even so, there are days when a familiar face is a welcome site. This past week I got a visit ...read more

When Pope Benedict arrives in Madrid on August 18 one of the first things he will do is visit two of the most iconic places in the city…and, of course, meet with the more than one million young people who will be in town to see him. The Holy Father is expected to arrive at ...read more

VALENCIA, Spain — In medieval Valencia carpenters would mark the feast of St. Joseph by clearing their workshops of old projects, prototypes, pieces that didn’t work out, etc. On the eve of the feast of St. Joseph Valencian carpenters would set these pieces on fire. This fire was considered a purifying fire, eliminating the old ...read more

World Youth Day Madrid will be a totally “green” event according to organizers. In Madrid Thursday  morning the Main Events department and Zeroemissions, a Spain-based company that specializes in making large world events emissions free, announced plans to make WYD eco-friendly. Some of the initiatives aimed at making WYD environmentally friendly have never been seen ...read more

Around the world the front cover of almost every newspaper is dedicated to the unraveling situation in the Middle East. Last week it was Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, while this week the focus is Libya and the increasingly tense situation there. The unrest in the Middle East and Northern Africa has prompted stress in Europe. Malta, ...read more

Did you know that Madrid was not originally the capital of Spain? Toledo was the home of the royal court and thus the capital city. It was in 1561 when Phillip II moved the royal court to Madrid, making it the capital. With that move, new buildings were commissioned so that Madrid would have everything ...read more

Today in Madrid WYD organizers confirmed the “extra” events on the Pope Benedict XVI's agenda during the event. ...read more

It was 9pm on a Wednesday evening when I finally arrived in Madrid. Superficially most cosmopolitan cities in developed nations look similar: a main thoroughfare leading into and out of the city, some tall building, billboards, neon signs on top of buildings and the like. What struck me about Madrid’s skyline were two things. First ...read more

MADRID – Out of the nearly two million pilgrims expected to attend World Youth Day in Madrid in August, about five thousand of those pilgrims will have some sort of disability. The WYD organization has partnered with a Spanish organization to make sure those pilgrims will be able to get the full WYD experience just ...read more