The Greetings of His Eminence Camillo Cardinal Ruin

to the President of the Republic

Roma, Quirinal Palace, 19^th August 2000, at 12 noon.

Mr. President of the Republic,

We are glad to be here in the happy occasiion of the XV WYD, and thanks very much for your hearty welcome and reception accorded to us. Present here also are more than two hundred youth who are representatives of other countires that are participating in the World Youth Day. With me here also are Cardinal James Francis Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council of the Laity, and Mons. Stanislaw Rylko, Secretary of the same Council, Mons. Cesare Nosiglia, Preseident of the Italian Committee for the World Youth Day, and Mons. Ennio Antonelli, Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Confrence, together with the Officials of the Pontifical Council and members of the Italian Committee.

Mr President, one of these young people will briefly present to you the importance of this world Youth Day. On my part I would only like to express to you as the Head of State, the lively recognition of the Holy See and the Italian Episcopal Conference for all your attention, sollecitude, your labourous sustenance, that we have received from th competent Authorities and different organs of the Public Addministration in the committment and preparation of this World Youth Day and its development.

According to the information from diffrent parts of Italy where the pilgrim youth from other countries were accomodated in the Italian dioceses and the same impresssion in Rome we are assured that the significance and value of this Day are deeply shared and experienced by our people. Hence Italy and Rome are once more adotive countries of the election for the rooting and the development of theChristian faith in history.

Once again thank you Mr. President and more greeze to your elbows for your person and for your high office.

Messagge of WYD youth to the Republic President

Mr. President,

We are grateful for this opportunity you are giving us to meet you, in which we are presenting our fellow young people coming from all continents, who are here in Rome for the WYD.

Hundreds of thousand of young people – over a million we will be here tonight! – from over 160 nations, have accepted the invitation of John Paul II, therefore Rome, as Holy See of Peter and Italian Capital City, in these days will be defined, “the Word made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1,14). Lead by the Holy Father, with our bishops and priests, we have meditated on this event, which has a decisive significant for the men and women history of our time, christians and non christians. We have been meditated it throught chatechesis, uninterrupted jubilee pilgrimage at St. Peter, and through Via Crucis. Today and tomorrow, at Tor Vergata area in presence of the Holy Father we will renew our choice of faith in Christ our saviour committing ourselves to be witnesses of the third millennium in all countries from which we come from. We are honored to know that you and your wife will partecipate to the tomorrow morning Holy Mass, at Tor Vergata, presided by the Holy Father.

The choice of being a disciples of Jesus is as well the choice of the christian humanism which has formed the cultures of many different people and higher values of civil life. As young people of today we are aware of the resource that our Lord has given us, for which the Gospel becomes a critical conscience and constructive resposibility towards the main needs of world today, in which young people have to pay many times.

That’s why we fully accept the duty that John Paul II has given us in his Message for the 15^th WYD: therefore Christ has revealed Father’s love to every creatures, we would like to “make every effort to build a new world, based on love and forgiveness power, on the struggle against unjustice, and every fisical, moral and spiritual myseries, on political, economical, cultural and technological outline, for men and his integral developement” (Message, 3). We wish to share this message with all young of the world, and through his person we would like to give it ideally to all Italian youths who will not be fisically here, but with whom we feel like sharing waiteses and hopes.

We believe in peace, we want peace, not as a slogan to shout out, but as a work to do: first of all respecting each person life, above all the weakest and the most undefended, from the moment of his conception to the moment of his natural death; then recognising every single people rights, from the access to education and culture, the right of religious freedom; the concrete attention to the endless world of poor people and the construction of a more real justice among men and people, that in this jubilee year finds a particular expression in the remission of foreign debts of the poorest countries; the trust in a ransom of every man and women and so the death penalty reject; offering of a meritable work for everyone, against children and young people abuse; protection of all creatures, God’s gift for everybody and our responsability for the future; the overcoming of the tensions among different countries and ethnic groups, a pacific harmony that would be the origin of a full brotherhood among young people from countries engaged in war.

Mr. President, we know your enlightened and strong values which are talking about together with the affection you show the youth, to whom you speak voluntierly guiding and encouraging them. We thank you for this particular attention and we assure you our and Italian youth friendship and collaboration.

Finally we wish to express your gratitude for the welcoming which has given to us and for the effort made from each authority to guarantee this world encounter result in the city and in the country which have the privilege to be chatolicity centre and to be in the heart of great Jubilee of year 2000.

Mr. President, in order to remember our meeting please accept two gifts. An ancient Roman coin from Jerusalem, of imperial period. This recalls us times when Jesus lived on this earth and walk on our streets.

Furthermore, considering that tomorrow mornig you will become a pilgrim with us, where will finish together the Jubilee of youth, we are glad to give you too, as a gift, the symbol of ancient pilgrims who went to Rome: the crossed keys, emblem of the power to forgive and retain sins given from the Lord to St. Peter, which have on the top the Holy Face of who can forgive them: our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please may you accept them together with our simpathy and wish to work for the good. Thank you Mr. President.

Rome, 19^th of August 2000