Earlier this month, 1 million young people from across the world — including some Marquette students — gathered in western Germany to celebrate World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI.

Students from Marquette, the University of Detroit Mercy and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee attended the celebration of young Catholics with a group known as the Eucharistic Youth Movement, a group of Catholic youth from across America.

The group found their pilgrimage to the German city of Cologne to be revitalizing.

"One million youth at the Sunday Mass concelebrated by 10,000 priests is a testament to the reaffirming of vocation and discovery of faith," said Father Matthew Gamber, a parish priest from Park Ridge, Ill., who joined the Marquette group.

Many students thought World Youth Day, held from Aug. 16-21, was a great symbol of unity and peace in the world and also a way to prove that young people are important to the Church.

"People tend to look down at youth in the Church," said University of Detroit Mercy sophomore Jason Vassel. "It is important for those people to see that the youth are still involved."

Other members of the Marquette group were moved by the displays of support for the relatively new pope, especially the numbers of participants chanting "Bennedetto."

"The vast numbers of faithful who came out to see the pope and who believe that he is the Vicar of Christ on earth is encouraging," said Sister Henry Suso, a Nashville Dominican who traveled with the Marquette group.

College of Arts & Sciences junior Tommy Nelson said he was unsure how the crowd would react to the pope's appearance.

"No one knew what to expect, but no one was disappointed with Pope Benedict," Nelson said. "Everyone, especially the Italians, seemed just as excited with Benedict as they were with" John Paul II.

The World Youth Day theme "We Have Come to Worship Him" focused on the pilgrimage to the Cologne Cathedral in which the remains of the three Magi — the "wise men" from the Nativity tale — are reputedly buried.

Mollie Jenkins, a sophomore in the College of Nursing, placed great importance on the pope's call for renewal of faith in Europe.

"It was a good thing we had World Youth Day in Germany to start drawing people back in to the Church," Jenkins said. "I had the impression that Europe is more secular, judging by the music and the lack of reverence."

Prior to the culminating Mass with the pope, the group stopped at various sites in Europe important to their faith.

After visiting various religious sites in Paris, the group stayed at a convent in Sacre-Coeur, a famous white basilica in the city's Montmartre district.

"It was so amazing to be in a place with so much history," said College of Arts & Sciences sophomore Mamie Smith. "Staying right next to the church where St. Ignatius founded the Jesuits gives you a sense of how timeless faith is."

The group also visited a monastic community in Taize, France.

The community was founded as a place of reconciliation after World War II, Gamber said. Today, Taize is a retreat center for people of all Christian faiths to come together in prayer.

Continuing on to the Jesuit-run Magis retreat on the banks of the Rhine in Lorely, Germany, the group participated in Perpetual Eucharist Adoration.

"The Holy Hour we had at Lorely brought together everything we had done before then," said Sarah Schmitt, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate student Shelly Solberg also enjoyed the Adoration at Lorely.

"When we could not fit any more people into the tent and were singing Latin songs it made it a global faith experience," Solberg said. "You realize that we share the same faith despite differences in language and culture."

First year Marquette graduate student Phu Tran found the small details of the pilgrimage to be the most important to him.

Tran said the visit the group paid to Paray le Monial, an important religious site, was one of the most special.

"The Mass at Paray le Monial was great spiritual preparation for the actual World Youth Day," Tran said.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on August 29, 2005.