Cologne, Germany, Aug 14, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Thousands of young people from around the world are pouring into Cologne, Germany, today for the start of World Youth Day (WYD) 2005 Aug. 16.
However, many pilgrims are not arriving directly from their home countries. They have decided to make a detour and take the opportunity once in Europe to visit important pilgrimage sites, such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, St. Peter’s in Rome or the Shrine of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy.
About 1,000 WYD pilgrims spent their days leading up to WYD with the ecumenical Taize community in Taize, France. Another 3,000 young people from around the world were at the spirituality centre in Taize at the same time, following a separate weeklong retreat program.
The community, consisting of less than 200 brothers, is renowned the world over for its simple chants and meditative prayer. It was founded by Br. Roger in the mid-1940s.