Religion
Czech Republic: Thousands gather for papal mass
Prague, 28 Sept. (AKI) - Pope Benedict paid homage to Czech Republic's patron saint on Monday as thousands of young people gathered for an open air mass. The 82-year-old pontiff visited the Saint Wenceslas Basilica in Stara Bolesav, near the capital Prague, where he acknowledged the saint on the anniversary of his murder more than 1,000 years ago.
Saint Wenceslas, a local duke, was murdered by his pagan brother Boleslav on 28 September 935 at a church where the basilica is now located.
Benedict then proceeded to a local field to celebrate mass before tens of thousands of pilgrims on the last day of his three-day visit to the former communist country.
"Being with you makes the Pope feel young!," said the pontiff in a message to the 10,000 young pilgrims.
"In every young person there is an aspiration towards happiness, sometimes tinged with anxiety: an aspiration that is often exploited, however, by present-day consumerist society in false and alienating ways," he said
"Instead, that longing for happiness must be taken seriously, it demands a true and comprehensive response. At your age, the first major choices are made, choices that can set your lives on a particular course, for better or worse".
The crowd waved Czech, Slovak, German and Vatican flags and chanted "Benedicto" as the pope passed by in the popemobile, waving to the pilgrims on his first visit to the Czech Republic.
He is visiting the country shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which brought an end to communism in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989.
Benedict also met Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright and hero of the Velvet Revolution who became president after spending years in communist jails.
On Sunday, Benedict XVI led an open-air mass for 120,000 pilgrims in the southeastern city of Brno, the centre of southern Moravia, a region with the highest percentage of believers in the otherwise secular Czech Republic.
Saint Wenceslas, a local duke, was murdered by his pagan brother Boleslav on 28 September 935 at a church where the basilica is now located.
Benedict then proceeded to a local field to celebrate mass before tens of thousands of pilgrims on the last day of his three-day visit to the former communist country.
"Being with you makes the Pope feel young!," said the pontiff in a message to the 10,000 young pilgrims.
"In every young person there is an aspiration towards happiness, sometimes tinged with anxiety: an aspiration that is often exploited, however, by present-day consumerist society in false and alienating ways," he said
"Instead, that longing for happiness must be taken seriously, it demands a true and comprehensive response. At your age, the first major choices are made, choices that can set your lives on a particular course, for better or worse".
The crowd waved Czech, Slovak, German and Vatican flags and chanted "Benedicto" as the pope passed by in the popemobile, waving to the pilgrims on his first visit to the Czech Republic.
He is visiting the country shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which brought an end to communism in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989.
Benedict also met Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright and hero of the Velvet Revolution who became president after spending years in communist jails.
On Sunday, Benedict XVI led an open-air mass for 120,000 pilgrims in the southeastern city of Brno, the centre of southern Moravia, a region with the highest percentage of believers in the otherwise secular Czech Republic.
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