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COMMITEE FOR THE YOUTH MEETING ON THE MOUNT OF BEATITUDES
COMMUNIQUÉ n. 1

PRESS CONFERENCE OF CARDINAL CASTRILLÓN AND CARDINAL ROUCO ON THE HOLY FATHER'S MEETING WITH 100,000 YOUTH ON THE MOUNT OF BEATITUDES

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22 AT 9 PM
ON THE CONVENTION CENTER OF JERUSALEM

     Cardinal Dario Catrillón Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and the Catechesis, and Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid, will illustrate to the journalists who are following the trip of the Holy Father the significance of the Eucharistic celebration which will occur on the Mount of the Beatitudes, at the place where Jesus instituted the twelve apostles, pronounced the Sermon on the Mountain and appeared resurrected to the disciples to send them to all the world.

     After two thousand years, this historical trip of the Holy Father makes possible to proclaim again the message of love to the enemy which is the very heart of the Gospel and the answer to all the conflicts which dilacerate today’s world. This celebration is deeply linked to the great penitential act of John Paul II that shook the world just a few days ago.

     The meeting with the Holy Father on the Mount of Beatitudes has attracted many young people from all over the world: more than 100,000 will come of whom 50,000 are local people and the other 50,000 are coming from abroad and representing different ecclesial realities, like Opus Dei, Communion and Liberation, Focolari and 45,000 from the Neocatechumenal Communities.

     The Press Conference called by the Organizing Committee for the Youth Meeting on the Mount of Beatitudes will be done on Wednesday March 22 at 9 PM in the Convention Center of Jerusalem.

      Among the participants there will also be Father Rino Rossi, who is the coordinator of the celebration and he is also in charge for the building of the Domus Galilaeae, a great complex for welcoming pilgrims and for biblical studies of priests and seminarians. The Domus Galilaeae is being built at the site where the Holy Father will celebrate the Eucharist.