Pope - Pope visits Spain and Germany / The life of Benedict XVI depicted in manga comic

On August 18th 2011 Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Madrid for the Catholic Church's World Youth Day. The weeklong Catholic event is taking place against the backdrop of the European debt crisis, which has hit Spain hard. Benedict arrived in a cloudy Madrid to a boisterous welcome from young people with their faces painted the colours of the Spanish flag chanting: "These are the pope's young people!" Benedict was greeted on the tarmac at Madrid's Barajas airport by Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and conservative opposition leader Marian Rajoy, the man forecast to take power in the November 2011 elections, were also present. Organisers expect a million (m) or more young people from 193 countries to attend the festival. The main events are a prayer vigil with the 84-year-old Pope and an outdoor sleepover for pilgrims on the night of August 20th at a sprawling air base, and Mass there the next morning. The Pope's attendance shows how much a priority he places on this economically troubled country, which has departed sharply from its Catholic traditions and embraced hedonism and secularism. In the economic bust, he may be hoping to lure back some of his straying flock. This is Benedict's third trip to Spain as pope, cementing its reputation as ground zero in his campaign to reinvigorate the faith in European countries where Catholicism has fallen by the wayside. Laws passed under Zapatero allowing gay marriage, fast-track divorce and easier abortions have deeply angered the Vatican, which sees the once staunchly Roman Catholic country as a battleground for the future of the faithful in Europe. Except for a trip on August 19th to a historic monastery in El Escorial, 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Madrid, the Pope will spend the whole visit in Madrid, meeting with young people, hearing confession from some of them, riding through the city in his pope-mobile and greeting young nuns, seminarians and university professors, among other activities. Later on August 18th Pope Benedict received the keys to the city of Madrid at Puerta de Alcala before heading down to Plaza Cibeles where a crowd of faithful was gathering to welcome him. Benedict arrived in Madrid to a boisterous welcome from young people with their faces painted the colours of the Spanish flag chanting: "These are the pope's young people!" Later he was officially greeted by World Youth Day participants in Madrid's Plaza de Cibeles. "Messages of prayer, friendship and celebration bring us closer to each other and to the Lord Jesus," Benedict told the faithful. **** Foul weather forced Pope Benedict XVI to skip the bulk of his speech during a prayer vigil at the Catholic Church's world youth festival. An estimated (m) million young pilgrims had braved searing heat on August 20th to be in place for the vigil when a flash, blustery downpour drenched the crowd and forced Benedict to suspend his remarks. Once the rains had died down, about a half hour later, Benedict merely delivered brief greetings in a half-dozen languages, skipping the meat of his speech. Despite the discomfort, the scene at the Cuatro Vientos airport was nevertheless festive and colourful, with pilgrims in a rainbow of sunhats dancing, singing and waving their national flags as they geared up for a massive sleepover ahead of August 21st's main World Youth Day Mass. This is Pope Benedict XVI's third World Youth Day, the once-every-three-year gathering of young Catholics from around the world that was launched a quarter century ago by Pope John Paul II in a bid to reinvigorate and spread the faith among the young. **** Merkel said the state of financial markets was among the topics she discussed with the pope. **** You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6acbf306a752b791b5aa983822cea8e2 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork