Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Madrid for World Youth Day, and told the pilgrims gathered to greet him not to be ashamed of their Faith.

The Holy Father’s plane landed at Barajas International Airport in Madrid shortly before midday, marking the official start of the four day visit where a large group of young Catholics had gathered to await his arrival.

“With all my heart, I say again to you young people: let nothing and no one take away your peace; do not be ashamed of the Lord,” the Pope told the assembled crowd. “World Youth Day brings us a message of hope like a pure and youthful breeze, with rejuvenating scents which fill us with confidence before the future of the Church and the world”.

Pope Benedict was greeted first by Archbishop Renzo Fratini, Apostolic Nuncio to Spain. At the foot of the plane steps, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain (above) waited to welcome him while the military bands struck up the national anthem, La marcha real. On reaching the raised podium, from where he would address the crowd, the Pope was met by 60 miniature Swiss Guards, young Spaniards dressed in exact replicas of the famous uniforms of the Papal guard standing to attention beneath the dais.

The Pope began by thanking the people of Spain.

“A very grateful greeting goes to those who, with such commitment and dedication, from the ecclesiastical and civil spheres, have contributed with their efforts and work for World Youth Day in Madrid,” he said. In particular, he thanked ‘with all my heart’ the families, parishes, schools and other institutions that for their hospitality in welcoming young people from all over the world.’

The Pope went on to say ‘young followers of Jesus must be aided to remain firm in the Faith,’ without hiding their Christian identity, ‘living together with other legitimate choices in a spirit of respect while at the same time demanding due respect for one’s own choices’.

The Pope addressed the challenges of today’s world, a ‘prevailing superficiality, consumerism and hedonism, the widespread banalisation of sexuality, the lack of solidarity, the corruption.’ He spoke of the concerns specific to young people: world conflicts, the undermining of the value of the human person because of ‘selfish, material and ideological interests;’ environmental degradation, uncertainty over their future, an increasingly precarious workplace, drug abuse.

“There are even some who because of their Faith in Christ, suffer discrimination which leads to contempt and persecution, open or hidden, which they endure in various regions and countries,” Pope Benedict said. “They are harassed to give him up, depriving them of the signs of his presence in public life, not allowing even the mention of his holy name.”

To them he said ‘again, do not be ashamed of the Lord. He did not spare himself in becoming one like us and in experiencing our anguish so as to lift it up to God, and in this way he saved us.’

During the plane journey to Madrid the Pope told reporters that a profit-at-all-cost mentality was behind Europe’s current economic crisis, and said morals and ethics must play a greater role in formulating economic policy in the future. He said the crisis and sense of desperation among young people proved that ethics have been increasingly left out of formulating economic policy at local and international levels.

“Man must be at the center of the economy, and the economy cannot be measured only by maximisation of profit but rather according to the common good,” the Holy Father said. “The economy doesn’t function with market self-regulation but needs an ethical reason to work for man.”

He said the current crisis shows that a moral dimension is not ‘exterior’ to economic problems but ‘interior and fundamental.’