LORETO, Italy, SEPT. 4, 2007 (Zenit.org).- When the leaders of a Loreto youth rally made a vocations call, some 2,000 men and 1,200 women stood up to show their readiness to become priests or consecrated persons.
Monday's rally gathered about 100,000 youth from the Neocatechumenal Way, as a follow-up to the visit from Benedict XVI, who had been with the youth the two days before.
Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, presided over the meeting, accompanied by several other bishops. The rally was animated by the founders of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández, along with Father Mario Pezzi.
A Neocatechumenate communiqué explained that since Pope John Paul II's 1984 meeting with youth in Rome, the movement has called together its young people for a vocation meeting, in order to harvest the fruits from the encounters with the Holy Father.
The meeting on Monday included a procession of about 1,000 priests and a reading of the Gospel.
Archbishop Rylko commented on the Gospel reading, saying: "The Holy Father wants to convey a message to all young people, that being a Christian is beautiful."
Invited
After more commentaries, the leaders invited those youth who think they have a call to the priesthood or consecrated life to stand and receive a blessing from the bishops. That's when 2,000 young men came forward to show their interest in the priesthood. And 1,200 women expressed a similar desire for a life consecrated to God.
If these youth continue this path, they will be joining others of the Neocatechumenal Way who have followed a vocation to follow Christ with the evangelical counsels. The movement says that some 4,000 of its young women have entered various monasteries, mostly cloistered ones.
"The large number of the young participants -- mostly Italian, but also many delegations from all the countries of Europe -- is a sign that in many families, the faith is being taught to the young people," the communiqué said.
To prepare themselves for the meeting with Benedict XVI, the youth made a pilgrimage, stopping in streets and plazas to witness to their faith and talk with other young people.
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney was inspired by the rally and invited the youth to engage in a similar preparation for World Youth Day, to be held in Australia next July.
ZE07090405 - 2007-09-04