World Youth Day was an astonishing and wonderful event. It gathered something like 1.5 million young Catholics together in Lisbon. If the world’s media failed to respond with the interest and astonishment that it deserved then Catholics have celebrated it with respect and appreciation, both to those who came and for those who organized it.
Only the Catholic Church could draw the young in such numbers and offer such inspiration. The success of the venture should indeed be the cause of encouragement and celebration, and the internet is brimming over with gratitude and enthusiasm from many of the participants, especially as they responded to Pope Francis’s message to “be courageous”.
