About 400,000 young people from 200 countries attended during the week, and more than 1,000,000 came for the weekend. They were joined by about 600 bishops and cardinals, as well as by 6,600 reporters.
The Pope's Apostolic Journey to Germany
Do not be deterred from taking part in Sunday Mass, and help others to discover it too. This is because the Eucharist releases the joy that we need so much, and we must learn to grasp it ever more deeply, we must learn to love it.[1]
Originally, Pope John Paul II was to attend the World Youth Day in Cologne. As he died four months earlier, it was instead his successor Pope Benedict XVI's first apostolic journey. Most pilgrims to the World Youth Day made their plans to come while John Paul II was still Pope, and had hoped to see him. Before Pope Benedict XVI led the central mass, he met with several politicians and others.
The Pope issued a plenary indulgence for those attending World Youth Day, with a partial indulgence available to all who pray fervently, with a contrite heart, that Christian youth
be strengthened in the profession of the Faith;
be confirmed in love and reverence towards their parents; and
form a firm resolution to follow "the holy norms of the Gospel and Mother Church" in living out their present or future family life, or whatever vocation they are called to by God.
21 August
An estimated 1,000,000 people, after camping outdoors all night, joined Pope Benedict XVI for the concluding Mass in the vast Marienfeld near the village of Kerpen. Participants too far away to see the pope in the vast field watched the services on more than 15 large television screens.[2] The Pope announced at the end of the mass that the next World Youth Day would take place in Sydney, Australia.[3]
Attending groups
Numerous interest groups attended World Youth Day: schools, universities, church groups, and new movements were all well represented by their attendance.
Photographic gallery
Pilgrims waiting for the Pope in the Rhin
Pilgrims
Meeting with the Pope
Pilgrims at the doors of the Cologne Cathedral
Arrival of the Pope to Cologne crossing the Rhin
Flag with the logo of the WYD 2005
Opening celebration in Bonn
Map of Marienfeld
Reveller at Aachen
Opening festivities
Cheering pilgrims wade into the Rhine during the pope's ride on the Rhine in Cologne
Thousands of sleeping Pilgrims on the night of 20-21 August 2005 at 03:00