Madrid, Spain, Aug 20, 2011 / 12:35 pm
Pope Benedict XVI has told over 4,500 students for the priesthood that they should spend their years of study becoming saints as well as priests.
“We have to be saints so as not to create a contradiction between the sign we are and the reality that we wish to signify,” said the Pope at a special World Youth Day Mass for seminarians at Madrid’s Cathedral of the Almudena.
“Looking at you, I again see proof of how Christ continues to call young disciples and to make them his apostles, thus keeping alive the mission of the Church and the offer of the Gospel to the world.”
The young seminarians' enthusiasm for the Pope was evident from the moment of his arrival outside the Cathedral just after 10am. Glimpsing the Pope on television monitors, those inside spontaneously began to chant “Benedicto! Bendedicto!” and “El Papa! Viva!” amid youthful cheers and applause.