Cologne, Germany (2005)
Date: 16-21 August 2005
Pontificate: Benedict XVI
Theme: “We have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2)
Song: Venimus Adorare Eum (Come let us worship him)
This WYD theme is linked to the host city because the relics of the Magi are in Cologne Cathedral. Just as these wise men set out to meet Jesus and worship him, so young people were called to imitate their example by seeking Jesus on a pilgrimage to the place of the Magi’s relics. The young people were told to look to the example of the Magi and their humility, tenacity, intelligence and perseverance, and also to their shrewdness in recognising the need to return by a different route. During the vigil, the pope pointed out that the Magi learned that “God’s ways are not as we imagine them or as we might wish them to be. God does not enter into competition with earthly powers in this world. (…) God is different − this is what they now come to realise. And it means that they themselves must now become different, they must learn God’s ways.” “The Magi from the East are just the first in a long procession of men and women who have constantly tried to gaze upon God’s star in their lives, going in search of God who has drawn close to us and shows us the way.”
All of the Holy Father’s speeches at WYD in Cologne: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/travels/2005/outside/documents/cologne-wyd2005.html
Summary based on the data sheet published by frontierarieti.com, organ of the Diocese of Rieti.