Youths' joyous celebration neglected

If those two million teens had gathered in one place to hear rock bands, it would have been front-page news in daily newspapers for several days and the lead story on the nightly TV news for a week. But these millions gathered to worship Christ, to hear Pope John Paul II and to express their faith; we suspect that's why their existence was almost unremarked on outside of the Catholic press.

As a result, you may not have heard that:

* U.S. and Cuban youths exchanged expressions of forgiveness for the way their two nations have treated each other, and an Iraqi youth said he met with many Americans, "and we were always laughing together. You know, we are supposed to be enemies, carrying weapons against each other, but we didn't do that";

* A youth forum issued a statement of their commitment to live their beliefs (see these pages);

* Tens of thousands of teenagers went to confession and passed through the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica;

* The Pope challenged young people to "go against the tide" of modern society in order to witness to their faith.

We devote three pages (1, 4 and 5) this week to World Youth Day. We will add more next week when we interview teens from the Albany Diocese who attended the Jubilee Year event, which was described by a participant from Chad as a time of "joy and welcoming."

It's a shame that such a significant, positive and historic event was passed over. You can make up for the neglect by being sure to share our coverage with the young people in your life.

(08-24-00)