World Youth Day 1995

X World Youth Day 1995

Date	January 10–15, 1995
Location	Manila, Philippines
Coordinates	14°35′N 121°0′E
Type	Religious, youth festival
Theme	As the Father has sent me, so am I sending you (Jn 20:21)
Organised by	Catholic Church
Participants	Pope John Paul II
Previous	1993 Denver
Next	1997 Paris
Website	https://www.vatican.va/gmg/years/gmg_1994-1995_fr.html

World Youth Day 1995 (Filipino: Pandaigdigang Araw ng Kabataan 1995) was a Catholic youth festival that took place from January 10 to 15, 1995, in Manila, Philippines.^[2] It was the first time for an Asian country to host the event. Pope John Paul II presided over the event, marking his second trip to the country as Pope after his visit in 1981, and also the last papal visit in the country of the 20th century and 2nd millennium.

The program of the days

Since the opening ceremony, the Pope underlines the importance of the Filipino Catholic Church. At the meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), the Pope points out what are the new areas of the contemporary mission: the poor of cities, migrants, refugees, young people, the media and social communications. "In the first millennium," he says, "the Cross has been planted on the soil of Europe; in the second on that of America and Africa; we can pray that in the third Christian millennium in this vast and vital continent there will be a great harvest of faith to be harvested".

Events

Pope John Paul II (right) with Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin (left) addressing the crowd attending the closing mass of the 10th World Youth Day at Luneta Park

A week before the celebration of the World Youth Day proper, two representatives from each of countries all over the world gathered for an International Youth Forum (IYF) at the University of Santo Tomas. The Philippines sent eight representatives, while others were from the different Catholic religious youth organizations and campuses. These were the selected youth leaders and coordinators. During their five-day stay in UST, representatives were grouped and discussed issues and concerns laid out by the Episcopal Commission on Youth, on topics set months before.

The IYF was also a venue wherein few from these selected youth representative had able to have a short talk with the Pope. Young pilgrims gathered from many different parts of the world to celebrate God together, to learn other cultures and to speak as "brothers and sisters" among themselves. There was also a Mass where some youths directly received Communion from the Pope. Youth pilgrims gathered from different parts of the world to worship and talk together. Different activities were held, including a traditional Barrio Fiesta, where it was possible to search company and entertainment. During these days, Masses were celebrated every day in most parishes throughout the Philippines.

The closing Mass, held at Luneta Park, was estimated to have been attended by more than 5 million people, the second-largest papal gathering in history.^[3][4][5][6]

The event saw the presence of Catholic representatives of all Chinese communities: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore. Already on January 12, the archbishop of Taipei, Joseph Ti-kang, celebrated mass with 5 priests of the "official" Chinese Roman Catholic Church. On January 14, through Radio Veritas, the pope launches a message of reconciliation between the "official" and underground Chinese Church addressed to "all the Catholic faithful". At the end of the Mass in Luneta Park, the Pope greeted in Chinese, the language of China and Taiwan.

This was Pope John Paul II's last visit to the Philippines, as his scheduled return for the World Meeting of Families in January 2003 fell through due to the progression of Parkinson's disease.

Official song

The official song for World Youth Day 1995 was released in 1994, titled "Tell the World of His Love",^[7] composed by Trina Belamide.

Theme

"As the Father has sent me, so am I sending you" (Jn 20:21), the same as that of the World Youth Day of 1994, which was celebrated at the diocesan level on Palm Sunday of that year, fall on March 27.

John Paul II's assassination attempt

Ramzi Yousef, an Al-Qaeda member, attempted to asssassinate the Pope in the Bojinka Plot, but the plan was discovered four days earlier and Yousef fled to Pakistan.

Notes and references

1. Marbella, Winston (May 1, 2011). "World Youth Day innovations started in Manila '95". Marbella Online. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
2. [Antoni Jackowski: The lexicon of the pilgrimages of John Paul II. Krakow: WAM, 2006, pp. 319–320. ISBN 83-7318-613-1.]
3. Millions flock to papal Mass in Manila Gathering is called the largest the pope has seen at a service. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
4. "The Philippines, 1995: Pope dreams of". www.asianews.it.
5. à 15h38, Le 16 août 2011 (August 16, 2011). "VIDÃ?OS. Retour sur l'histoire des JMJ". leparisien.fr.
6. Service, New York Times News (January 16, 1995). "Millions flock to papal Mass in Manila Gathering is called the largest the pope has seen at a service". baltimoresun.com.
7. "WYD'95 Theme Song – Tell The World of His Love". home.netcom.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2018.

External links

• Guinness Book of World Records – Largest Papal Crowd
• JMJ 1994–1995

14°34′56″N 120°58′40″E