Pope Benedict XVI delivered the following homily at the Closing Mass of World Youth Day in Madrid: Dear Young People, In this celebration of the Eucharist we have reached the high point of this World Youth Day. Seeing you here, gathered in such great numbers from all parts of the world, fills my heart with ...

This week young people from around the world are gathered in Madrid for World Youth Day. Since 1984, they’ve been gathering together with the Holy Father in celebration of our Faith. This week on S+L Radio we remember the first 24 years of World Youth Day and what better way to do that, but through ...

The official World Youth Day website has published a translation of the full address that Benedict XVI intended to give at the WYD Vigil. Due to heavy wind and rain, the Pope limited his spoken remarks to his greetings to the different language groups. The vigil resumed following a brief delay as the weather passed. ...

Before leading the World Youth Day Vigil, Pope Benedict met with young people with physical and mental disabilities. He visited the San José Institute, which assists in their care and specializes in treating epilepsy. 120 patients and workers from several Spanish centres were present, along with the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela. ...

By Cindy Wooden / Catholic News Service MADRID — Pope Benedict XVI began his third day in Madrid by hearing confessions in one of 200 portable confessionals set up in a park for World Youth Day pilgrims. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the pope offered the sacrament of reconciliation to four World Youth ...

By Cindy Wooden / Catholic News Service MADRID — Pope Benedict XVI announced this morning that he will declare St. John of Avila the 34th “doctor of the church.” The Spanish saint, who lived 1500-1569, was famed as a preacher, confessor and spiritual writer. He is best known for the works “Audi, Filia” (“Listen, Daughter”), ...

A priest spends his entire life devoted to one task: to be modeled on Christ. This was Pope Benedict’s message this morning, as he celebrated a special World Youth Day Mass with seminarians. In the Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena, the Pope preached that since the holiness of the Church is ...

Alicia gives us the basics about today’s walking route that will take pilgrims from downtown Madrid to Cuatro Vientos Air Base for the prayer vigil and closing Mass with Pope Benedict XVI. ...

The Cross is “the icon of supreme love,” declared Benedict XVI, “which teaches us to love what God loves and in the way that he loves.” The Holy Father addressed the faithful following the Way of the Cross, which was commemorated on the streets of Madrid during World Youth Day. The hundreds of thousands present ...

A university education is about more than attaining technical ability or satisfying the demand for labor, says Pope Benedict. The Holy Father reflected on the role of the university during a meeting with young professors at the Basilica of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. His address followed his meeting with young women ...