XX World Youth Day () was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, 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 the youth organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Life Movement that has existed in Poland since the 1960s, where dur ...

and foreign trip of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

, who joined the festival on 18 August. This meeting was decided by the previous pope, John Paul II, 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 member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s and cardinals, as well as by 6,600 reporters.

The Pope's Apostolic Journey to Germany

Originally,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

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 The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

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

19 August

* 10:30 The Pope met with German President Horst Köhler at

Villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

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

. The synagogue was destroyed by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

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

vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

with seminarians from over 80 nations at St. Pantaleon.

20 August

* 10.00 The Pope met with Chancellor

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

, Wolfgang Thierse (president of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

), Angela Merkel ( CDU chairwoman and leader of the opposition) and Jürgen Rüttgers ( minister-president of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

). The Pope issued a plenary indulgence 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 and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in the vast Marienfeld 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 Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

."Australians delighted at 2008 World Youth Day"
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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 (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

{{Authority control

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Catholic Church in Germany

Christianity in Cologne Foreign trips by popes 2000s in Cologne 2005 in Christianity Pope Benedict XVI August 2005 in Europe