VATICAN, Aug. 17 (FIDES/CWNews.com) - Although the government of mainland China did not allow Catholic pilgrims to participate in World Youth Day, a delegation of 500 Catholics from Taiwan came to Rome, and their reports will certainly find their way back to the mainland, the Fides news service points out.
Archbishop Ti-kang of Taipei personally accompanied his young people, mostly university students "to help them join in the activities of the universal Church." He said the pilgrimage would also serve in preparation for evangelization in China.
The pilgrims from Taiwan prepared for their trip with months of study about the places they would visit. Before reaching Rome one group visited the homes of St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis Xavier and St. Teresa of Avila in Spain; others saw Lourdes and Taize in France. Cai Cifen, a university student from Taipei, says "to see the birth places of these saints moved me to ask God what he wants of me; and it also opened our horizons to embrace the universality of the Church."
One of seven non-Christian members in the Taiwan delegation also confided that the Pope had touched her heart. "I am not baptized yet, but I did not want to miss this opportunity," she said. "I did not want to hurry baptism for the occasion; I want to make a deliberate choice, not just an emotional reaction; I want to test my faith. But even now, being there in St Peter's singing the World Youth Day hymn, I felt at home."
Catholic World News Service - Vatican Update