Denver, Colo., Aug 19, 2013 / 10:06 am
Twenty years after the 1993 World Youth Day was held in Denver, the archdiocese has been abundantly blessed with much spiritual fruit, said Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila.
"It's just a tremendous grace, and one can only lift up one's heart in gratitude for the graces that the Lord has poured forth upon the archdiocese since the visit of John Paul II here," Archbishop Aquila told CNA at an Aug. 15 celebration of the 20th anniversary of the event.
Some 1,800 people gathered at the John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization – home to St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and the archdiocesan chancery – for a Mass commemorating the visit of the Pope and over 750,000 pilgrims for 1993's World Youth Day in Denver.
"I have seen tremendous growth here," said the archbishop, who in 1993 was a priest of the archdiocese, and became its bishop in 2012.