The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline
of the Sacraments, Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, is encouraging
young people to see Benedict XVI as the “Pope of hope.”
“Young people from all over the world, and especially from Spain,
need a great message of hope, which is what they will find in their
encounters with Pope Benedict,” the cardinal said in an interview with
EWTN News.
He added that by administering the sacrament of reconciliation to young people at Madrid’s Central Park on Aug. 20, Pope Benedict XVI wants to emphasize that the sacrament is “essential and that renewal can only come if we let God renew us.”
“Where God renews us is precisely through the forgiveness of our sins.”
The sacrament of reconciliation is “the sacrament of hope,” a subject
the Pope has spoken about on many occasions, the cardinal continued.
“This Pope has written an encyclical on hope — Spe Salvi. He
is the Pope of hope, and he wants to tell us once again where hope lies:
in the redemption of Jesus Christ, in the person of Jesus Christ, who
is the only one who heals.”
With World Youth Day less than a month away, Cardinal Canizares said
that Pope Benedict would proclaim to young people the hope they need,
who is Jesus Christ, “the answer to their greatest problems.”
The cardinal said: “Jesus Christ can fulfill those great hopes, and we can be sure that he will fill them.”