The Miracle In Spain That The Media Refused To Cover

My daughter Dana recently returned from Madrid with an amazing story about World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI. This incredible event did not receive much media attention except for the coverage of the protesters there harassing the Pope and the pilgrims. What I did not know was how anti-Catholic this nation had become since my last visit there in the 1960s. The mass I attended then was standing room only and I listened to the service standing outside the door. Fast forward to the 2011 papal pilgrimage and among the many countries represented there, Spain was absent. In addition, my daughter described the Spaniards as distant and unwelcoming to the visitors to the city.

The Spanish media with the exception of one newspaper, La Razon, concentrated its coverage on the protesters who showed up to protest the Pope's visit. Reportedly there were about 2000 denouncing the use of public money in connection with the visit at a time of economic hardship. There were also about 100 gay and lesbian advocates staging a kiss-in to confront and offend the pilgrims. Their efforts were in vain and were met instead with cheerful smiles and greetings. During one trip down the street, my daughter and her companions noticed two men hiding their gay protests signs behind their back so they greeted them with smiles and "Hola, Hola." The men were surprised, whipped out and waved their signs, and responded with a smiling "Hola, Hola.

Love of the Lord and of their faith was in the air and the sheer numbers of the young Catholics should have put to rest the concerns of public expense. There were in fact over 1.5 million pilgrims lining the streets, chanting and praying and spending money far above the public expenses into the city.

These are the beautiful youth of the world. These are the ones you never read about in the news but they come from all over the globe. My daughter saw fellow pilgrims from countries not known to be Christian. She met Catholics from Taiwan and Lebanon and was overjoyed to be marching down the streets right behind the newest nation - Southern Sudan. Aborigines from Australia were a surprise among the worshippers who had never seen any unless they had been to the World Youth Day in Australia last year.

This was not Woodstock where the concert goers left the grounds a shambles nor was it like the aftermath of the Jon Stewart rally in Washington where paid attendees littered the mall. These young pilgrims respected the city and its residents who may have been cold to them at first but gradually warmed to their presence.

The weather was abominable with temperatures ranging for days over 100 degrees. Apartment dwellers started spraying the much appreciative crowd with spurts of water and when a man got out a hose to cool them off even the priests danced for joy after getting drenched.

On the Tuesday before the Pope's arrival in Madrid, a mass was said by an archbishop who was moved to tears by what he beheld before him; over a million young people lining the streets of Madrid during the service in solemn silence during the consecration of the host. Imagine one million people silently waiting to receive communion or as Catholics believe, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. The pilgrims had endured beastly heat and uncomfortable sleeping accommodations along with missed meals under dire conditions. Yet each and every one had shown exuberance for their faith, beaming with joy and proud to be followers of Christ. However this is not the miracle I referred to in the title of this column.

The residents of Madrid were not at all thrilled about the Pope's visit and the anticipated throng of pilgrims. New York City's Archbishop Dolan wrote in the Catholic New York newspaper about one resident who said, "We've been dreading this. We've been worried these young people would be obnoxious. But, they've won me over with their happiness, their courtesy, their faith."

My daughter told me of encountering people on their visit who would tell them quietly, "Thank you for coming" as if they had wanted their catholic faith restored to their nation.

Then the unexpected happened. At the final mass Sunday held at the Cuarto Vientos airport, the 1.5 million in the crowd surged to 2 million as the Spanish youth showed up waving their flags joining the visiting pilgrims to listen to the Pope who called them all "apostles of the 21st century."

When Pope John Paul II came to Denver in 1993, the event was covered very well by the media here and it was suggested that the 500,000 youths who greeted him were the result of his charisma and personal appeal. Certainly, there is no doubt that JPII was a charismatic figure with enormous influence and when he died, there was speculation that his successor would not be able to match his predecessor's impact on the young.

That clearly has not been the case and that reminds me of an old film starring John Mills and Dirk Bogarde called the 'Singer Not the Song'. Bogarde plays an atheistic outlaw who is nearly converted by Mills, the priest and as he's dying he concludes that the singer is more important than the song he's preaching. The opposite is the truth.

It doesn't matter who the Pope is. He is the Vicar of Christ, the leader of a billion Catholics and his message of love and peace is the message those millions come to hear.

The media will cover the riots in London and the world may think that those young hooligans who looted and torched the city are the future and that is a very disheartening scenario. How much more edifying it would have been to show this happy joyous crowd as they loudly cheered the words of Pope Benedict XVI. His last words of encouragement to the crowd were, "There is no reason to lose heart in the face of the various obstacles we encounter in some countries. The yearning for God which the Creator has placed in the hearts of young people is more powerful than all of these".

What a pity that journalists find this reassuring portrait of our future unfit to report. C

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com