Young pilgrims set out for an event that marks real cultural revolution

MORE than 800,000 young people from all over the world, including about 2,000 from Ireland, will gather on the site of an old coalmine in northern Germany this weekend.

There will be no riotous debauchery. Those present will spend their Saturday night listening to a 78-year-old man speak about Jesus Christ. The following morning they will attend Mass.

The occasion is World Youth Day, being held in Cologne this year. It was begun by Pope John Paul II in 1984. Since then it has regularly attracted upwards of one million young people.

In 1995, in Manila, more than four million attended - a record attendance for an open air event. Despite these numbers, the mainstream media has had little to say about the phenomenon, even though it happens at a time of year when there is little else of interest going on.

This year there has been more interest, which is partly down to Pope Benedict. World Youth Day is seen as an early big test of his papacy, the more so because it’s taking place in his native Germany, which happens to be the cradle of the Protestant Reformation and has a record number of dissident Catholics.

But the commitment of those who come to world youth days is newsworthy of itself. Often, the pilgrims travel huge distances. Many come from Africa, Asia and Latin America, at great expense and sacrifice, although the Church has a ‘solidarity fund’ to help them.

Accommodation tends to be less than four-star, with most people sleeping in tents, on the floor of convents or parish halls, or in the houses of host families. One German family I know has volunteered to take 20 people, but they can only provide beds for seven.

Some commentators have said that, up to now, it was the ‘star power’ of John Paul II which brought young people in such numbers. His appeal, they argue, was personal, rather than religious. But it is hard to square this with the expectation that 800,000 will show up for Benedict XVI’s first major outdoor event. The new pope has many qualities, for example intellect, courage and humility. But few would include charisma or ‘star power’ in the list. So what is it about World Youth Day that draws such commitment? The Catholic Church, of course, has a wide reach and the ability to lead from the centre while organising turnout at local level. But a more important factor than structure is that young people want to be challenged.

They have a natural enthusiasm and a desire to stretch themselves. Often, this can become self-destructive. ‘Living life to the full’ has sometimes become the cynical euphemism for over-indulgence in drink, drugs or sex.

But youthful energy often seeks a more productive channel. Even among those who are not at all religious, there is idealistic belief in the value of self-sacrifice. In this country, many who would have once taken three months to a year out in the US or Australia now opt to volunteer with aid agencies in the Third World. Many of the young protesters against globalisation, whatever you think of their politics, are similarly selfless and idealistic. The message of World Youth Day is calculated to appeal to that. Pope John Paul II told young people to have a sense of mission, to go out and to change the world, to spread a gospel of life and love.

Pope Benedict XVI is preaching the same message - a message which challenges young people to reject a culture of egoism and self-indulgence, and to build an alternative culture which celebrates giving, even if giving can be painful. Thus the message which young people get from World Youth Day is radically counter-cultural. The church is asking young people to think of themselves as cultural revolutionaries, rather than as consumers.

Perhaps this is why World Youth Day has not previously received quite the coverage that other youth events, which attract far fewer people, do. The Glastonbury festival and other rock concerts typify what many journalists regard as counter-cultural. But this is a hangover from the 1960s, when being revolutionary could coincide with being highly self-indulgent.

People could ‘tune in, turn on and drop out,’ and feel they were making an important and daring contribution to changing the world at the same time.

Many journalists and editorial writers either lived through this period or were formed by this sort of thinking. For them, church teaching can never be counter-cultural, even if the dominant cultural forces in western society have been rejecting the Church’s values for a generation.

THE close attention being paid to the Catholic Church since John Paul II’s death and the emergence of Benedict XVI may help change that. Those who previously ignored World Youth Day may be ready to see that there is something authentic on offer from Christianity. They may marvel, for the first time, at the number of young people who find it attractive.

The 2,000 Irish young people who are travelling will also experience something new. They will witness a church that is vibrant, confident and international, rather than unsure, timid and overshadowed by scandal, as it is often perceived in Ireland. They will meet other young people from all over the world who are not defensive about their faith, but who see it as a gift and a cause for joy.

Often, people in Ireland seem to think that the Church is a uniquely Irish institution. All of the problems which the church in Ireland faces we think of as crippling the church as a whole. But there are different currents abroad.

In mission lands and in Eastern Europe, there have been many vocations to the priesthood, so much so that the overall number of priests went up during John Paul II’s pontificate. Younger clergy here, though few in number, are alert to the need to give witness to Christian values in a way that is convincing and attractive.

Lay movements are bringing new life to the church in continental Europe, although much of the current is as yet underground, and it will be some time before the attitudes of the wider community are shaped by them. What’s important is that all this commitment is inspired by a spirit of radical selflessness which has the potential to bring out the best in others.

The Irish who visit Cologne will see a church which is outward-looking and which wants to challenge. It is a church which does not want to impose, so much as propose, a way of life that is truly alternative.

Some clergy are nervous of World Youth Day because they doubt the capacity of a highly charged popular event to transform the lives of young pilgrims in the radical way that Christianity requires. To some extent they are right. World Youth Day needs more than a large turnout. It requires proper preparation for those attending and, just as importantly, follow-up programmes that build on what people will experience at the various catechetical sessions and at their meeting with the pope.

But nobody should be in any doubt about what these events, properly managed, can achieve. They bring young Irish Catholics face to face with people from different races and social backgrounds, yet with whom they have much in common. At every level, whether culturally, socially and spiritually, the effects of all that should be positive.