COLOGNE, Germany — When Pope Benedict XVI visits Germany this summer, some will remember words he uttered during his inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square in April.

“The Church is alive. And the Church is young!” the Pope said then, alluding to the vast numbers of young people who had poured into Rome to pay tribute to Pope John Paul II.

In August, Pope Benedict will carry on the World Youth Day tradition begun by his predecessor and meet upwards of 400,000 young people from around the world, including at least 23,000 from the United States.

It promises to be an emotional encounter. The Pope will be returning to the land in which he spent his own youth, by all accounts a happy one — except for the war years. He will see in all the young faces the future of the Church.

Doubtless on his mind will be the fact that in many respects Europe is dying. Year after year, the birth rate falls: In Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Britain, families get smaller, the numbers of abortions rise and marriages decline.

Commentators note with increasing frequency the effects this has on social policies: the need for more and more immigrants, the pension crisis, the emerging problems in welfare provision, and health care.

Churchgoing, meanwhile, is a minority option: Serving Germany's glorious baroque churches are a diminishing number of clergy; numbers of baptisms and confirmations decrease; committed Catholics seem few and far between, and groups voice dissent from Church teachings.

But there are signs of hope. Movements, such as Communion and Liberation, Focolare and Catholic Action, and the groups that have gathered around new religious orders such as the Brothers of St. John and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, are beginning to make their presence felt.

Youth 2000, which began in Britain and spread to other countries, will be sending a large delegation to Cologne. One of its founding members, Robert Toone, now married with a young family, described its aims as encouraging young people “to take an active part in evangelization, and be courageous witnesses to the Good News.”

His wife Amanda added that Youth 2000 aims to take seriously Pope John Paul's call to youth “Do not be afraid to be the saints of the 21st century.”

Summer Gatherings

Youth 2000 runs missions in schools, prayer groups, retreats, and conferences. Its members are active with many social and educational projects and have been particularly active in the pro-life movement. Its massive summer gatherings at Walsingham — the national shrine to Our Lady in Norfolk near the east coast of England — bring together young people in a format not unlike World Youth Day, with prayer vigils before the Blessed Sacrament, priests hearing confessions, open-air Masses, and teaching sessions on a range of subjects.

Annette Murphy, who runs a Youth 2000 prayer group, was part of the vast crowd paying tribute to Pope John Paul in Rome.

“I just had to be there,” she said “A friend sent me a text message suggesting we go, and I thought, ‘Why not?’ We stayed up all night waiting near St. Peter's. It was a wonderful experience — so many people from all over the world, I just can'd describe the beautiful atmosphere. I wouldn'd have missed it for anything.”

The Faith Movement also will be a presence at Cologne. Small, but growing steadily, it draws 200 to 300 young people to its annual summer conferences in Britain, and more through the year at its retreats, study days and local faith forums. It has produced a notable number of vocations, and its message is centered on a vision of a “new synthesis” of faith and science, offering a coherent and challenging message to those who ask the most searching questions about God, the natural world, and human existence.

“We are directly challenging the idea that you can put God and religion into one compartment of life and seal it off. This idea is at the core of secular culture and is profoundly wrong,” said Father Hugh Mackenzie, a member of the movement and pastor of a busy London parish “We are saying that every experience we have of material things points to God. All creation is sustained by him.

“One of the things that the Faith vision gives is that every part and moment of our experience points to the existence of a divine Creator, and this same Creator comes personally to us in the sacraments and in the life of the Catholic Church,” he said.

Preparing to Go

Father Dominic Allain, a priest in a London suburb, said that the death of Pope John Paul and the election of Pope Benedict created a renewed interest in the faith among people.

“There is enthusiasm about Cologne,” he said. “It's partly the idea of meeting young people from different countries, of taking part in something large connected with the faith. But somewhere in there, too, is something of a pilgrimage of discovery, a personal journey for each person.”

He's responded to the new interest by holding regular meetings Sunday evenings after Mass for a group of young people planning to go to Cologne. The gatherings include Benediction, silent prayer and a social hour — and catechetical teaching.

Young people “have a lot of questions,” he said, referring to a “state of confusion” in religious education in recent years. “They have a sort of cultural base connected with Catholicism but need much more.”

His group will join other busloads of youth from their diocese, Southwark, led by Archbishop Kevin McDonald. There will be a special commissioning service at the cathedral before they leave. Like all those attending from Europe, their participation fee for the event includes a special donation to help a young person from a poorer part of the world to attend.

Young people will be traveling to Cologne from all points of Europe by train, bus or plane. Some will be staying with local families to get a taste of local culture and traditions, and there will be a range of activities, talks and Masses for different language groups. The highlight will be arrival of the Holy Father for a large open-air Mass at an airfield just outside Cologne.

“It is my experience, and that of so many other priests, that if you present young people with something like this — an opportunity to discover Christ and the Church — they will respond,” said Father Allain. “Already the events of this year have awakened a great interest in the Church among young people: This is great cause for hope.”

Joanna Bogle is based in London.