04/08/2011, 00.00
INDIA
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A ‘Jesus Fest’ of 5,000 young Indians for Karol Wojtyła’s beatification

by Nirmala Carvalho
Mumbai youth, Christian and non-Christian, will celebrate the Blessed John Paul II with a vigil, prayers and a concert. Fr Warner D’Souza, director of the Mount Carmel Youth Movement who was a witness to the Pope’s 1986 India visit, remembers John Paul II’s appeal to youth, something “just unprecedented in history.”
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Five thousand young people will celebrate the Blessed John Paul II at an event on 1 May in Bandra West, Mumbai. The organiser of the event, Fr Warner D’Souza, director of the Mount Carmel Youth Movement, is of one of Karol Wojtyła’s children. Now 41, he remembers “the enthusiasm, his own enchantment” as a young 16-year-old student in 1986, when he saw John Paul II during his visit to India. The Pope’s words remained impressed in his mind: “Don’t be afraid.” Today he heads a youth movement that also includes non-Christians “to lead and walk with the youth to follow Christ”.

A beautiful bust of Pope John Paul II and a smiling framed portrait of Pope Benedict XVI are on display in his office. As a young man, he fell in love with Pope John Paul II’s vision for the Church and his appeal to youth, something “just unprecedented in history.”

The celebration will be a ‘Jesus Fest’ and will take place on 1 May. It will include a moment of prayer and a concert.

“This year, with the beatification of John Paul II, our Jesus Fest, which as John Paul II as our patron, will celebrate the beatification,” Fr Warner said.

“Our purpose with the Jesus Fest, which we have celebrated for many years, is to bring young people to the Church. This year there will be a prayer vigil, on Saturday and on the day following the celebration. It will end with a big concert, with professional singers and musicians, who will sing texts about the life and witness of John Paul II.”

For Fr Warner, John Paul II’s relationship with young people was very special. “What John Paul II did for young people no one did before. Only he could summon an assembly of five million people, including countless young people, to Manila. Whilst other international organisations talk, Catholics do. Young people felt loved and accepted by John Paul II, in an inclusive Church where young people matter”.

This heritage must be maintained. “Sadly, this is not being done sufficiently enough and it is more urgent that ever that we as the Church, at this historic beatification, transmit this witness and legacy of the Pope to our youth. Importantly, this is the right time for our young people to participate in the universal Church, and with the Vatican, make ourselves feel that we here in India as part of this great journey of faith along with youth of the world.”

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