From the World Youth Day Opening Mass

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"Brothers and Sisters!

"Welcome to the Archdiocese of Cologne! We are delighted that you are all here.

"We are celebrating the first World Youth Day with two Popes: with Pope John Paul II in heaven above, and with our Pope Benedict XVI here on earth.

"What an amazing celebration of faith this will be!

"Three weeks before he died, the Holy Father called me to his room in the Gemelli hospital and asked me, 'Are they still waiting for me in Cologne?' I replied, 'Holy Father, we are faithfully waiting for you.'

"We now call up to heaven: 'Holy Father John Paul II, we are waiting for you!'

"And we call to Rome: 'Holy Father Benedict XVI, we are waiting for you!'

Cardinal Joachim Meissner, Archbishop of Cologne
Opening Mass Homily, World Youth Day 2005 (excerpt)