DREADYOUTHDAY: One Million Reasons Benedict XVI Is Winning (Oh And World Youth Day 2008 Will Be In Sydney!)

[UPDATE] It's finally official: World Youth Day 2008 will be in Sydney, Australia! NSW Tourism Minister says: "...potentially, in terms of numbers, it could be bigger than the Olympics." Mel Gibson tipped to re-create the Passion of the Christ on the streets of Sydney. DREADNOUGHT is excited.

::Real Support::

While the homoactivists fudge figures and complain about embarrassingly low turnouts, Pope Benedict XVI easily attracts over one million young people to a field in Germany. Speaking of the mystery of God's humility in Christ the Pope taught that God:

"...contrasts the noisy and ostentatious power of this world with the defenceless power of love, which succumbs to death on the Cross, and dies ever anew throughout history; yet it is this same love which constitutes the new divine intervention that opposes injustice and ushers in the Kingdom of God."

It is this message of simple compassion, of radical self-sacrifice and a tireless focus on the good that one million young people came to hear. Now that's what DREADNOUGHT calls support.

::We Love Him::

The Pope has been much maligned in the liberal press and subjected to much hate-speech in the gay media. Remember this is the 'ultra-orthodox headkicker' who couldn't possibly connect with the contemporary Church. What nonsense! Pope Benedict XVI has proven himself to be what most Catholics expected: a loving, humane shepherd intent on sharing the truth of Christ with the world. Rather than shrinking from his uncompromising witness, young Catholics are drawn to this humble man of God who speaks forcefully of right and wrong and dares to challenge us to live beyond the hedonisms the modern world offers.

More Popular than Rodney Croome

There is indeed more to life than sex and money: there is a mighty Pope and a faithful, thoughtful and unmistakebly young Church arrayed about the cross of Christ. These call us all to a radical holiness in the midst of a broken world.

::A Word of Caution::

DREADNOUGHT hasn't noticed much deliberate misinformation regarding World Youth Day, but the following quotation from one Horst Herrmann in the Washington Post stands out:

"Horst Herrmann, a sociologist at the University of Muenster who studies the role of the Catholic Church in Europe, said it was remarkable that more Germans didn't come out to greet the pope and suggested that Benedict had a nearly impossible task to reverse the decline in the church's membership in his native land.

"All in all, the importance of this gathering is grossly exaggerated," he said. "There are, from what I have heard, 80,000 German young people present. Germany has millions of young people who are not there -- not there because they are not Catholics, because they have no interest in the pope, or because they have better things to do.""

Not content with closing his eyes to the masses who turned out, thereby contradicting his bitter prediction in stunning fashion, Herrmann continued:

""It seems like a celebration for a church that is dying in Europe and the Western world," Herrman added. "Behind the façade, much more is already dead than the church is willing to admit, and the pope is aware of that.""

Pretty outrageous stuff, but unsurprising, for Horst Herrmann is an old-guard heretic whose teaching mandatum was withdrawn in 1975.

A Young Pilgrim, Cologne (Photo: Vincent LaForet for the New York Times)

Since that time he has dedicated himself to undermining the Church however he can. DREADNOUGHT wonders why the Post failed to mention his history? Why did they present him as a learned and apparently unbiased 'expert' on the Church in Europe?

::The Upshot::

Ultimately, who cares what the liberal press and gay media splutter? One million young people just blew apart the blue-rinse set's dated 'individualism at all costs' mentality. One million young people just affirmed their solidarity with the poor and with their beloved Pope. One million young people is almost one million more people of any age whatsoever than turned out to support 'gay marriage' last weekend. Homoactivists stand aside, there is a new hero for the youth of the world and his name is Benedict!

::Resources::

The Pope's Vigil Address.

The Pope's profound Homily from Marienfeld.