{"id":6141,"date":"2011-08-17T17:27:54","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T21:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=6141"},"modified":"2011-08-17T17:51:20","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T21:51:20","slug":"1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint","title":{"rendered":"1 million kids filling Madrid square told &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid to be a saint&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cLet Christ live in your heart. Respond to Him with a \u2018yes\u2019 that\u2019s full of excitement and generosity of life,&#8221; Antonio Maria Rouco Varela told a vast sea of Christian kids Wednesday. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid of being a saint.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6143\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6143\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/wyd-saginaw-kids.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6143  \" title=\"wyd saginaw kids\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/wyd-saginaw-kids.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"258\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6143\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New friends from Saginaw, Michigan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Archbishop of Madrid, Spain, was speaking to around a million teens from all around the world who have streamed into town for five days of prayer, multi-cultural processions and learning.<\/p>\n<p>The six-day event centered around Madrid\u2019s Plaza de Cibeles will culminate with Pope Benedict XVI addressing the kids on World Youth Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It opened on Tuesday night with a Mass held in multiple languages.<\/p>\n<p>A group of 30 kids from rural Arkansas were well-equipped &#8212; several speak Spanish at home. Melissa Rangel, Kevin Guerrero and Antonio Trujillo jumped into their role as translators as did chaperone Daniel Gonzales.<\/p>\n<p>Ulises Rangel put his Spanish to use as the group made friends with a delegation from Chile.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6142\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6142\" style=\"width: 491px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/files\/2011\/08\/ulises-with-chileno.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6142   \" title=\"ulises with chileno\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/ulises-with-chileno-1024x710.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"491\" height=\"341\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6142\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ulises Rangel waves a Chilean flag while new friend Chile wears Ulises&#39; straw sombrero. (Photo sent to Beliefnet from Ulises&#39; cellphone)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The enormous crowd of kids was welcomed to Spain by Varela, who told them they live in a challenging world for Christians.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Your problems and circumstances have changed,\u201d he told them, urging them to respond to the call of Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko reminded\u00a0them of the difference that faith makes to a life. \u201cEverything changes,&#8221; he\u00a0told them &#8212;\u00a0depending on whether you\u00a0put your\u00a0faith in God or\u00a0try to go it alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6150\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6150\" style=\"width: 504px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/backpack.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6150 \" title=\"backpack\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2011\/08\/backpack.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"504\" height=\"378\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6150\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wearing their World Youth Day backpacks (Photo provided by Fr. Shaun Wesley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou have come to say aloud to the whole world,&#8221; he told the enthusiastic crowd,\u00a0&#8220;and in particular to Europe which is showing signs of being very lost, your unwavering \u2018yes.\u2019 Yes, faith is possible!&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cLet Christ live in your heart. Respond to Him with a \u2018yes\u2019 that\u2019s full of excitement and generosity of life,&#8221; Antonio Maria Rouco Varela told a vast sea of Christian kids Wednesday. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid of being a saint.\u201d The Archbishop of Madrid, Spain, was speaking to around a million teens from all around the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1422],"class_list":["post-6141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic","tag-world-youth-day"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>1 million kids filling Madrid square told &quot;Don&#039;t be afraid to be a saint&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"1 million kids filling Madrid square told &quot;Don&#039;t be afraid to be a saint&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cLet Christ live in your heart. Respond to Him with a \u2018yes\u2019 that\u2019s full of excitement and generosity of life,&#8221; Antonio Maria Rouco Varela told a vast sea of Christian kids Wednesday. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid of being a saint.\u201d The Archbishop of Madrid, Spain, was speaking to around a million teens from all around the&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-17T21:27:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-17T21:51:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/files\/2011\/08\/wyd-saginaw-kids.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"1 million kids filling Madrid square told \"Don't be afraid to be a saint\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"1 million kids filling Madrid square told \"Don't be afraid to be a saint\"","og_description":"\u201cLet Christ live in your heart. Respond to Him with a \u2018yes\u2019 that\u2019s full of excitement and generosity of life,&#8221; Antonio Maria Rouco Varela told a vast sea of Christian kids Wednesday. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid of being a saint.\u201d The Archbishop of Madrid, Spain, was speaking to around a million teens from all around the&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint","og_site_name":"Beliefnet News","article_published_time":"2011-08-17T21:27:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-08-17T21:51:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/files\/2011\/08\/wyd-saginaw-kids.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint","name":"1 million kids filling Madrid square told \"Don't be afraid to be a saint\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/files\/2011\/08\/wyd-saginaw-kids.jpg","datePublished":"2011-08-17T21:27:54+00:00","dateModified":"2011-08-17T21:51:20+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/files\/2011\/08\/wyd-saginaw-kids.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/files\/2011\/08\/wyd-saginaw-kids.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/08\/1-million-kids-in-madrid-square-told-dont-be-afraid-to-be-a-saint#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"1 million kids filling Madrid square told &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid to be a saint&#8221;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/","name":"Beliefnet News","description":"Top Religious News From Around the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/author"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6141"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6145,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6141\/revisions\/6145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}