The political commitment of young people was to be utilised for positive changes in society and the church.
The impetus for the "Council of Youth" was provided by Brother Roger Schutz (1915-2005), leader and founder of the ecumenical community of Taizé.
In December 1969, he asked Pope Paul VI for his opinion on the idea of a youth council - and he said: "Start it!"
In preparation, a "Joyful Message" was written at Easter 1970, which briefly outlined the basic questions and themes.
In the years that followed, a personal and international awareness process developed through encounters in Taizé, France, reciprocal visits by young people and commitment in their home communities.
Thunderstorm at the start
The actual Council of Youth was opened 50 years ago, on 30 August 1974, by Brother Roger on a sultry summer evening in Taizé with around 40,000 young people from more than 100 nations.
A prayer for the youth of the world was followed by a heavy thunderstorm - and later by words of greeting from the world's church leaders.
A "Letter to the People of God" was among the other documents: "Church, what do you say about your future?" Over the days of the Council: rain, more and more rain.
Even Taizé sympathisers asked themselves: What was that now? A fair of possibilities? A confirmation of the opinions that each individual brought with them? Brother Roger himself saw the long overdue major event as a failure.
"I had the impression that there was more fog than light under the tents," he later told a journalist.
In an interview with the Catholic News Agency (KNA), however, the German Alois Löser, who succeeded Brother Roger as Prior of Taizé, reported that he experienced the gathering as a "great celebration".
"There was a real spirit of optimism; a hope that a lot would change in the Church and society: more justice, a stronger Christian commitment," said Brother Alois, who was 20 years old at the time. "You could feel that this was a place where people would listen to you, where you could be who you are without demands being made straight away."
Mixed results
At the same time, the former prior of Taizé admits that the impact of the event was limited. A council with concrete texts would have required official church representatives and not just young people.
Brother Roger was instead concerned with "rediscovering the spiritual vitality of the time of the Second Vatican Council ". For the Taizé community, the Youth Council was a quantum leap, according to Brother Alois.
"Welcoming so many young people and being in constant contact with them has had a great impact on us and has also meant that we have continued to organise the European Youth Meetings on New Year's Eve for so many years."
The "Council of Youth" has left behind a completely different legacy: the songs typical of Taizé. The community realised that the joint singing of thousands of young people from many countries was not working well.
Although each nation brought its own singing tradition and favourite spiritual pieces, the young people from other countries usually had to sit in silence due to a lack of knowledge of the language or melody. Translations did not work well either. Common songs were needed for the praying, international youth of the 1970s.
Jacques Berthier (1923-1994), the Jesuit Joseph Gelineau (1920-2008) and Brother Robert Giscard (1923-1993), cousin of France's former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and one of the first brothers of Taizé, characterised the songs.
The most important stylistic device is the ostinato, a constantly repeating melody or rhythm, initially always with Latin text. This was often accompanied by solos in one or more languages in the upper voice. Titles such as "Laudate omnes gentes", "Ubi caritas", "Nada te turbe" or "Bleibet hier und wachet mit mir" became classics.
Opening up to the world
All in all - and despite the scepticism of initiator Brother Roger - the "Council of Youth" became a milestone in the youth movement.
It gave rise to countless private social and church projects.
In the years that followed, the ecumenical community of Taizé increasingly turned outwards, for example through visits to countries of the former Eastern Bloc and developing countries.
In 1979, the "Council of Youth" turned into a so-called pilgrimage of trust. Its important components are regular youth meetings in all parts of the world as well as the annual youth meeting over New Year's Eve in a major European city.
The focus is on common prayer, singing and international and interreligious exchange.