Today the Pope arrived…

Kirill writes: "Thursday morning began with light showers that continued throughout the morning until late. At the end of breakfast, the sun glittered from behind the clouds and accompanied us for the rest of the day. We prayed a moving and enlightening morning prayer, whose purpose was to "awaken" our hearts from sleep and to sense the presence of Jesus within us in prayer and at all times".

The day was spent by the young people as pilgrims looking for occasions to deepen their prayer and also as tourists: "We went into a church where they projected a film about Taizé and its founders (a big monastery in France, founded by Brother Roger, and consecrated to prayer for unity of Christians. The monks have developed a style of music that is wide spread throughout the world, especially among young people). We stayed there for a time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament."

One of the important elements in this trip of the young people is the meeting with young people from all over the world. Our young people are used to living their faith in a hidden way, as a minority that is almost invisible within Jewish Israeli society. In Madrid, they find themselves immersed in a crowd of hundreds of thousands of young people who share their faith: "It is important to remark that during our voyage through the city we meet innumerable groups from various and diverse countries. We exchange souvenirs, take photos with them without end. We receive, and of course also give, many expressions of joy and lots of smiles. Each one of us has quite a collection of souvenirs already from many different countries".

Of course, we are not yet living in a redeemed world and our young people also experienced on this day disappointment and rejection: a group from the Palestinian Autonomy – brothers and sisters in faith but who live on the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – did not hide their unease when they saw the Israeli flags.

The important event of the day was the arrival of the Pope: "As evening drew near, almost unnoticeably, we became more and more excited about the arrival of the Pope. We took our places a few meters from a giant screen so that we would be able to see what was going on far away from where we were. I think there is no need to put into words the great excitement felt by all those crowds in the streets. We felt it too despite being able to see everything only by means of a screen in a park, hundreds of meters away from the place where evening prayer was celebrated with the Pope.

"In his words the Pope related to the role of young people in contemporary society and added that it is a great joy to see crowds of youth who are not giving in to the temptations and weaknesses of modern society. In his words he said: "Dear friends: be prudent and wise, build your lives upon the firm foundation which is Christ. This wisdom and prudence will guide your steps, nothing will make you fear and peace will reign in your hearts. Then you will be blessed and happy and your happiness will influence others. They will wonder what the secret of your life is and they will discover that the rock which underpins the entire building and upon which rests your whole existence is the very person of Christ, your friend, brother and Lord, the Son of God incarnate, who gives meaning to all the universe." (The whole speech can be read here)

Kirill also describes another emotional meeting: "At the end of the prayer, on our way to dinner, a little surprise awaited us! We met up with Father Roman (priest in Haifa), who had come to Madrid as the accompanier of the Shalom Community from Brazil, who participate in the life of the kehilla in Haifa. We took more photos, we hugged each other, we wished each other good luck and we went on our way. We ate dinner in a Chinese restaurant where we could assuage our hunger with excellent Chinese food and a small but delicious desert".

Not everyone in Spain is overjoyed about the Pope's visit and our young people witnessed one of the demonstrations: "A few minutes before we finished our meal, we heard noise from the street and we witnessed an event that you surely heard about in the news. A group of protesters against the Pope's visit aggressively demonstrated in the streets of Madrid and were scattered by the police. The scene was a little frightening for some of us. However, when the police arrived everything calmed down and we were able to go back to our lodging without further incident."

Of course, our young people are conscious about what is going on in Israel. Kirill writes: "Immediately on return to our lodgings we prayed for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Israel, for peace, for the safety of our relatives and for the grace of God for those who have not yet experienced His love, have not yet heard His voice, nor seen His light… May this be Your will!"