Vatican · 20th World Youth Day in Cologne

World Youth Days trace back to Pope Johannes Paul II. Following international youth gatherings in Rom in 1984 and 1985, he introduced them as regular gatherings of the Catholic Church. In addition to the youth days held annually in the dioceses, international gatherings take place at longer intervals. They combine religious services, catecheses and prayers with cultural events and encounters between young people from numerous countries.

Johannes Paul II had already announced Köln as the next host city at the previous international World Youth Day in Toronto. However, he died a few months before the gathering. His successor Benedikt XVI took part in it; the trip to Deutschland was also his first foreign trip as pope. The event was therefore also marked by the transition between the two pontificates.

The motto was “We have come to worship him” and came from the Gospel of Matthew. It refers to the Magi, who follow a celestial sign to Bethlehem. The connection with Köln arose from the Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom). It houses relics that have been venerated since the Middle Ages as the bones of the Three Magi. They arrived in Köln from Mailand in 1164 and made the city an important pilgrimage destination. Construction of the Gothic cathedral began in 1248; it was not completed until the 19th century. The cathedral was therefore not only a venue, but also part of the religious symbolism of the gathering.

The central closing ceremony took place on Marienfeld near Kerpen, west of Köln. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims took part in the nighttime vigil and the final Mass. For the Vatican, the occasion provided an opportunity for a coin issue, as World Youth Day is an international event of the Catholic Church supported by the pope. The combination of the star motif, veneration of the Three Magi and Cologne Cathedral thus condenses the motto and the host city into a unified visual program.