Message for the XXIII World Youth Day

Be prepared to put your life on line on the line

in order to enlighten the world with the truth of Christ;

to respond with love to hatred and disregard for life;

to proclaim the hope of the risen Christ in every corner of the earth.
Benedict XVI

ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

One of the blessings of World Youth Day has been the long lines of penitents seeking confession at the many venues provided for young people in Sydney and other cities where youth are gathering for the event.

Cardinal Pell of Sidney said that when young people have the chance to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, they normally go. "We've seen ourselves at the cathedral school and in our World Youth Day groups that nearly all of them do, and the non-Catholics want to come too," he added. "Though they can't receive absolution, they can come for a chat and to bare their soul."

Cardinal Pell said he is "convinced that a significant element behind the anger and hostility in many young people results from displaced guilt, and all this talk about the primacy of conscience doesn't help either.""People feel guilt," he continued, "although they may not call it guilt, which they try to bury deep inside them, only for it to emerge in all sorts of unexpected directions."

"In an age where there is the burgeoning business of psychology, counseling, etc, "it's sad that there's been a fall away from the practice of confessing to a priest, and World Youth Day is helping renew this -- one of the most important gifts the Church offers."