"A grand event for the Church": it is in these terms that Benedict XVI, during a General Audience, characterised World Youth Day in Madrid, which he will attend on Thursday. A "grand event" which takes place under a dual tension: on the one hand, one finds in Spain unique difficulties for a particular branch of the Church; and, on the other hand, one finds the challenges that impact European youth in general, who are affected by a crisis the scope of which is revealed by widely dispersed protest movements.
Spain will become, after this voyage, the country most visited by Benedict XVI, starting with a trip to Valencia in 2006, then to Santiago de Compestela and Barcelona the next year. Without doubt, in the eyes of this European pope, the Spanish equation is particularly symbolic of the stakes for the Church in the old continent: the country has felt the effects of a brutal and significant movement towards secularization these last few years.
Weekly Mass attendance (26%) continues to place it as one of the most observant Catholic countries in Europe. But this has falls in a spectacular manner, to 8.9% for those under 30 year, and of young Spanish Catholics, one in two identify themselves as non-practicing. . . religious vocations as measured by the number entering seminary have also seen a sharp decline.
The notion that Spain is a Catholic country has always been a myth
Faced with the socialist government of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who decided to make "liberalization" of society one of the central points of his administration, the Spanish episcopate, or at least the archbishop of Madrid, has adopted a policy of frontal resistance, calling for demonstrations against Zapatero's legislation, and never missing an opportunity to criticize him. In vain, however, such that the daily newspaper El Pais could note, Monday, that "the only indisputable success of Zapatero has been his victory over the Church."
Benedict XVI, however, should be careful about giving his trip the appearance of a "Catholic reconquista". On the contrary: according to sources close to him, the pope has decided to steer clear of political matters.
In Rome, the Spanish reality is considered analytically and from a healthy distance: it is significant, for example, that l’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper published by the Holy See, has reprinted an interview (originally published by the monthly "Il consulente re") with the historian Vicente Carcel Orti, which explains at length that the notion of Spain as a Catholic country has "always been a myth", and that the nation has long been divided between the Catholics and the anti-Catholics...
He has fully assumed the legacy of John Paul II
Finally, Benedict XVI knows that three months before the next legislative elections, with José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero having announced he will not return as Prime Minister, the Church must prepare for a new political landscape.
In any case, for Benedict XVI, despite two scheduled diplomatic encounters- one with the government and one with King Juan Carlos- the essential object is not Spain, but the youth. An appointment to which he goes for the third time, after WYD Cologne in 2005, and WYD Sydney in 2008.
It had been said that Joseph Ratzinger would have difficulty picking up the style of these events, which were initiated and marked by the charisma of his predecessor. In fact, in Cologne, Benedict XVI did have to endure initial problems speaking for the first time in his pontificate before the young. He did not always appear at ease before large and enthusiastic crowds.
With a certain humility, he managed to adapt to the exercise. From this point of view, in realizing the importance this "great event" has taken on for the universal Church, he has perfectly assumed the legacy of John Paul II.
Return to the fundamentals of the faith
But Benedict XVI works in his own way. In 1989, in Santiago de Compostela, addressing a generation born in opposition to communism, John Paul II spoke of freedom. Then, when their successors were confronted with liberalism and its excesses, he insisted, in the 2000's, that faithfulness and Christian morality were the keys to true fulfillment.
Faced with the young of 2011, a generation marked by an economic crisis, Benedict XVI proposes, in the thinking of his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, an alternative way of life founded on commitment, fellowship, and sobriety.
But more than deliver a message, the pope likes to take every opportunity to call his young audience back to the fundamentals of the faith. For proof, the theme of this WYD: "Rooted and grounded in Christ, firm in the faith", a phrase taken from the Apostle Paul, which illustrates perfectly the "theological program" of Benedict XVI.
"Come together to meet Christ"
As at Cologne, and even more so in Sydney, the pope imposes a style of his own, emphasizing the sacramental celebrations and Eucharistic adoration. This year, he will act himself as a confessor for the young, giving WYD the feel of a "giant catechesis".
The purpose being, as he said himself after Sydney, to make these days "the culmination of a long process in which we turn to one another and then, together, turn to Christ."
Article in the original French here.
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