Madrid, Spain, Jul 22, 2011 / 00:08 am
In August Pope Benedict XVI will visit a Spain that faces aggressive secularism and controversies concerning abortion, sexual ethics and marriage. But World Youth Day organizers hope the event can trigger a revival of faith.
In May Archbishop Jose Ignacio Munilla Aguirre of San Sebastian, Spain said he hopes Bl. John Paul II will inspire the young people of Spain to attend the global youth gathering this August.
“In recent years they have endured years of secularization,” he said of Spain’s youth. “We are praying to John Paul II for his intercession, that he touch the hearts of those who need to be touched so that they will come.”
Pope Benedict XVI, during his two-day November 2010 pilgrimage to Spain, drew on the country’s Christian roots and noted the need “to hear God once again under the skies of Europe.”