MADRID, SPAIN, AUG 16 (HDS):
World Youth Day 2011 opened at Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles with solemn Eucharistic concelebration presided over by Archbishop of Madrid Cardinal Antonio today.
"The day we have all been waiting for has arrived", declared Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and welcomed youth to Madrid with the affirmation that their presence is an "unwavering 'yes!' Yes, faith is possible."
"These will be days that you will never forget, days of important discoveries and decisions that will be decisive for your future", affirmed the Vatican prelate of the dicastery in charge of organizing World Youth Days.
"Faith is a decisive factor in each person's life," he said. "Everything changes according to whether God exists or not. Faith is like a root that is nourished by the lifeblood of the word of God and the sacraments. It is the foundation, the rock on which life is built, the dependable compass that guides our choices and gives clear direction to our lives”, he added.
"Many of us might wonder: in our world today where God is often rejected and people live as if God did not exist, is it still possible to have faith?” affirmed the Cardinal to the rousing applaud of a sea of youth gathered from around the world.
Earlier Cardinal of Madrid presided over the Eucharist which was concelebrated by hundreds of Bishops and priests gathered from around the world.
Over a million youth are expected to participate in the world event.
Nearly a thousand youth from India are at the event in Madrid.
President of the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, Chairman of CBCI Youth Commission Archbishop Leo Cornelio, Archbishop of Nagpur Abraham Viruthakulangara and Chairman of CCBI Youth Commission Bishop Henry D´Souza are attending the WYD 2011.
World Youth Day, begun at Pope John Paul II's suggestion in 1984, is now an international phenomenon.
The Shrine of Bellary Arogya Mathe was blessed and dedicated on 8th September 2000 on the feast of the Nativity of our Blessed Mother Mary in memory of the great jubilee 2000 and the Golden Jubilee of the Diocese of Bellary