In back-to-back encounters with more than a million young people from around the world, Pope Benedict XVI urged them to discover the transforming power of the faith and join the "true revolution" of personal holiness.

At a World Youth Day vigil Aug. 20 and a closing Mass the next day, the pope preached about the inspiration of the saints and the mystery of the Eucharist, encouraging the youths to change themselves if they want to change the world. "Only from the saints, only from God does true revolution come," he told a vast candlelit crowd spread across a field outside Cologne. The pope was presiding for the first time over World Youth Day, and he did so in a solemn and dignified style.

At the vigil, he sat quietly as he watched slow liturgical dancing and listened to Scripture readings. Unlike similar megameetings with Pope John Paul II, there was no papal bantering with the crowd. At the end of the long evening, dressed in a golden cope, Pope Benedict led the crowd in adoration of the Eucharist.

World Youth Day seemed to make a connection with many young people in Cologne. In the words of one young U.S. pilgrim, youths came for religious inspiration, and they got it.

-- CNS