By Ray Brady and Rory Thynne

We represented the parish of Castleknock and traveled with representatives of other parishes in the Dublin Diocese with Catholic Youth Care.CYC organizes youth activities, from day retreats to pre-marriage courses.

With 450 other pilgrims from the Dublin Diocese, we traveled by coach and ferry across Britain, Franceand Belgium to reach Cologne. We stopped along the way in Maredsous Monastery in Belgium for Mass celebrated by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, Archbishop Emeritus, and Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Field. We then traveled on to Cologne where the parishioners and volunteers of Sankt Niklaus (St Nicholas) in Sulz, a suburb of the city, welcomed us warmly on Monday evening and brought us to our accommodation. They also hosted groups from Poland and Ghana. Some stayed with families and others in the schools and halls of the parish.

Our typical day began with morning prayers and Mass, which our priests who celebrated in a way that engaged us, with people from the many different countries staying in our host parish. They told us a lot about faith and scripture. The music of the different countries and the liturgies were beautiful, wonderful celebrations.

On Wednesday and Friday, we attended two interesting catechetical sessions in the parish church, one led by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the other by Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, USA.

After Mass on Tuesday morning we visited the Dom, the impressive cathedral of Cologne. This remarkable structure houses the relics of the Magi, the Three Wise Men. The theme of our youth pilgrimage was ‘We have come to worship him,’ as they did at the birth of Christ.

Pope Benedict’s arrival in Cologne on Thursday afternoon was a very moving experience for the many thousands of young pilgrims lining the banks of the Rhine to see him for the first time. The atmosphere in the city was amazing as we followed His Holiness to the cathedral, where he prayed and then addressed us.

We spent most evenings back in our host parish where we had evening prayers and discussion followed by céilís and other activities. (Editor’s note: ‘céilí’ is a Gaelic word similar to ‘pagtitipon,’ but now usually meaning a session of Irish or Scottish dancing).

The highlight of the pilgrimage was the visit to Marienfeld, which hosted an evening vigil and a papal Mass the following morning. The vigil was a very special event, an experience I will never forget. The ceremony I thought was very respectful but there was also a lot of excitement which the weather could not dampen. When the vigil was over, some of us walked through the crowds during the night, meeting people from all five continents. There were people as far as the eye could see, something truly incredible for young people who did not have the chance to welcome the late Pope John Paul to Ireland in 1979. It made me realize that there are many, many young people all over the world who believe in God and for whom faith is very important.

The Pope made two main points in his first talk. First, he said the World Youth Day theme, 'We have come to worship him', underlined the need to understand ‘life as a pilgrimage, guided by a star, in search of the Lord.’ He said that, like the Wise Men, ‘all believers, and young people in particular, have been called to set out on the journey of life in search of truth, justice and love. The ultimate goal of that journey can only be found through an encounter with Christ, an encounter which cannot take place without faith.’

Before Benedict XVI left for Rome, he said that he hoped to communicate to young people the joy of being a Christian and let them know that the faith is more than a set of rules. He said a new wave of belief amongst young people would be a good antidote to the 'fatigue' and loss of faith across Europe in recent years. He reflected on how the Eucharist inspires Christians to evangelization. ‘Anyone who has discovered Christ must lead others to him,’ he said. ‘A great joy cannot be kept to oneself. It has to be passed on.’

At the conclusion of the Mass, the Pope renewed his challenge to the young pilgrims to bring the message of the Gospel back to their own lands. He urged them to share their faith with their neighbors, ‘especially those in difficulty,’ and to be ‘sowers of peace and brotherhood.’

To finish, we thanked the parishioners of Sankt Niklaus for their support and encouraged the young people of the parish to look forward to World Youth Day XXI in Sydney, Australia, in 2008 and to be more active in the parish.