Cologne, Germany, Aug 19, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Enthusiasm swept through the crowd as Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Marienfeld Saturday evening for the World Youth Day vigil.
The young people cheered and waved as Pope Benedict was driven through the 2,700-hectare field to the stage, called the Altar’s Hill, from which the Pope led the evening prayers and delivered his address. The hill was lit up with 7,000 candles that had been placed into the earth.
At the beginning of the vigil, the young people cheered again when the Pope blessed a large church bell in memory of John Paul II. It was rung as the choir sang Laudate Omnes Gentes. WYD organizers said the bell would be placed in a Cologne church.
Calling the pilgrims “dear young friends”, Pope Benedict told the 700,000 young people that definitive change and revolution in the world only comes from God and the saints.