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.