XX World Youth Day (german: XX. Weltjugendtag) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

youth festival that started on 16 August and continued until 21 August 2005 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the first World Youth Day held in 1985. It was the first

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

and foreign trip of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

, who joined the festival on 18 August. This meeting was decided by the previous pope,

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, during the Toronto World Youth Day of 2002. The theme was "''We have come to worship Him''" (from Matthew 2:2). About 400,000 young people from 200 countries attended during the week, and more than 1,000,000 came for the weekend. They were joined by about 600

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

s and

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, as well as by 6,600 reporters.

The Pope's Apostolic Journey to Germany

Originally,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

was to attend the World Youth Day in Cologne. As he died four months earlier, it was instead his successor

's first apostolic journey. Most pilgrims to the World Youth Day made their plans to come while John Paul II was still Pope, and had hoped to see him. Before Pope Benedict XVI led the central mass, he met with several politicians and others.

18 August

* 12:00 The Pope arrived at Köln-Bonn Airport * 16:45–18:00 Journey on the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, the Pope spoke in Köln-Poll * 18:15 The Pope visited

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...

19 August

* 10:30 The Pope met with German President

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; born 22 February 1943) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU (of which he is a member) and the CSU, as well as the ...

Villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

Hammerschmidt in Bonn * 12:00 The Pope visited Roonstrasse Synagogue in

. The synagogue was destroyed by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

in 1938 and was rebuilt in the 1950s. * 5:00 The Pope met with and prayed

vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meanin ...

with

seminarians A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

from over 80 nations at St. Pantaleon.

20 August

* 10.00 The Pope met with Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

, president of the Federal Diet Wolfgang Thierse, Chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

and the

minister-president A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Jürgen Rüttgers Jürgen Rüttgers (born 26 June 1951) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as the 9th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2005 to 2010. Education Rüttgers was born in Cologne. He holds degree ...

The Pope issued a plenary

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...

for those attending World Youth Day, with a partial indulgence available to all who pray fervently, with a contrite heart, that Christian youth * be strengthened in the profession of the Faith; * be confirmed in love and reverence towards their parents; and * form a firm resolution to follow "the holy norms of the Gospel and Mother Church" in living out their present or future family life, or whatever vocation they are called to by God.

21 August

* An estimated 1,000,000 people, after camping outdoors all night, joined

for the concluding

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

in the vast

Marienfeld Marienfeld is a large (2.6 km² / 640 acres) grassy field on the reclaimed site of a former open-pit lignite mine about south-west of Cologne Cathedral in the city of Cologne, Germany, straddling the towns of Frechen and Kerpen. The ...

near the village of Kerpen. Participants too far away to see the pope in the vast field watched the services on more than 15 large television screens. The Pope announced at the end of the mass that the next World Youth Day would take place in Sydney, Australia."Australians delighted at 2008 World Youth Day"
/ref>

Attending groups

Numerous interest groups attended World Youth Day: schools, universities, church groups, and new movements were all well represented by their attendance.

Photographic gallery

Image:Xornada Mundial da Xuventude 2005.JPG, Pilgrims waiting for the Pope in the Rhin Image:Monxes e pelegríns.JPG, Pilgrims Image:Pantalla Bieito XVI.JPG, Meeting with the Pope Image:WJT 092.jpg, Pilgrims at the doors of the Cologne Cathedral Image:PopeCologneRhine.jpg, Arrival of the Pope to Cologne crossing the Rhin Image:WJT 3.JPG, Flag with the logo of the WYD 2005 Image:WJT2005 Opening Bonn2.jpg, Opening celebration in Bonn Image:WJT2005 Marienfeld Map.jpg, Map of Marienfeld Image:World-youth-day-2005-reveller-aachen.jpg, Reveller at Aachen Image:WJT2005 Opening Sinalco.jpg, Opening festivities Image:PopeCologneRhine.jpg, Cheering pilgrims wade into the Rhine during the pope's ride on the Rhine in Cologne Image:sleeping pilgrims1.jpg, Thousands of sleeping Pilgrims on the night of 20-21 August 2005 at 03:00

References

External links

Current information on World Youth Day

from the Vatican

Better World Links on the World Youth Day 2005 (German)

from the Deutsche Welle {{Authority control 2005 Catholic Church in Germany

Christianity in Cologne History of Cologne 2005 in Christianity Pope Benedict XVI August 2005 events in Europe