Częstochowa, Poland (1991)
Date: 10-15 August 1991
Pontificate: John Paul II
Theme: “You received a spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15)
Song: Abba Ojcze (Abba Father)
In his message of 15 August 1990, the pope spoke to young people of the “dizzying prospect” that awaits every believer. It is a unique and incredible challenge that we should look upon with enthusiasm and hope because “according to the divine plan we are called to become children of God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit (…) Let this wonder invade you, and inspire in each of you ever more closeness to God, our Father. Here then is the new and dizzying perspective, ‘you are no longer a slave, but a son or daughter; and if a son or daughter, you are also an heir by the will of God’ (Gal 4:6).” This is the call to holiness of life that young people received at WYD 1991, an essential idea in the life of a Christian, together with a life plan capable of going beyond the personal and intimate sphere. It looks to the building of a just and united society in which friendly coexistence between peoples is made possible and “breaks down all barriers of indifference and hatred”. The pope’s message included an important reference to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa when he asked “Where better to learn what it means to be children of God than at the feet of the Mother of God? Mary is the best teacher. (…) Where, if not in her maternal heart, can one best guard the inheritance of the children of God promised by the Father?” In St Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, 24 March 1991, a few months before WYD in Poland, St John Paul II, in reminding young people about the world meeting, stressed that all those who have received the Holy Spirit in baptism are committed to “accepting with a sense of responsibility the entire inheritance connected with the divine filiation given to us in baptism. This heritage also includes mutual love, a sense of solidarity and a passion for peace.”
All of the Holy Father’s speeches in Czestochowa (only Polish, Italian and Spanish available: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/1991/travels/documents/trav_polonia-ungheria.html
Summary based on the data sheet published by frontierarieti.com, organ of the Diocese of Rieti.