Lunch With The Pope

Omelette was on the menu for the young people, and trout for the Pope. But the Holy Father declined the offer because he felt it would be too complicated to eat fish and speak at the same time. So Benedict XVI was served an omelette and nothing stood in the way of communication; not even the variety of languages spoken by the diners, because on top of everything else, the Pope proved to be an excellent interpreter.

Twelve young people who have been involved in the preparations for World Youth Day for quite some time now most of whom had interrupted their studies to do so were invited to eat lunch with the Pope in the seminary in Cologne on Friday. The symbolism of the occasion was not lost on the young people: just as Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples, so the Pope wanted to spend some time with them, talk to them, and celebrate with them.

‘At first I wasn’t hungry at all because I was so excited,’ admitted Anna Herbst, one of the young guests, from near the German city of Paderborn. ‘But that changed pretty quickly.’

All of the young people related with excitement how the Pope listened intently to what they had to say. ‘He is very human,’ enthused Nicolás José Frias Ossandon from Chile. ‘The issues we discussed were all very personal,’ added Jason Mackiewicz from New Zealand. Lauriane-Salomé Moufouma-Okia was very moved when Benedict XVI told her that he knew both Congo and Brazzaville; her native town and country. Véronique Rondeau from Canada was also very excited by the experience: ‘He was very interested in our countries, but also in us and our families.’ Johny Bassous from Palestine added: ‘He was so close to us. He looked us straight in the eye, and I asked him what message he had for us. He replied: “Work to achieve peace and reconciliation.”’ Lubica Jovanovic from Sydney had this to say: ‘He said: “Make Jesus Number One in your life. Then everything will be OK.”’

Aleksander Pavkovic from Slovenia was also at the lunch with the Pope. He is blind and helped translate the prayers and mass texts for World Youth Day into Braille. He was particularly pleased that the Pope took so much time for both him and the others, and blessed the things that they had brought with them.

Klaus Langenstück, the second young German in the group, was impressed by the peace radiated by Benedict XVI. For Christille Giraudet de Boudemange from France, it was important that it was not just a meal with the Pope, but also a meal with other young people. Yunyu Rosa Lee expressed the hope that the Holy Father would have time to listen to the CD that she brought him from Taiwan. 27-year-old Martin Hounzinme Adonha from Benin summed up what all twelve of the young people were thinking today: ‘Thank-you, thank-you, and a thousand times thank-you!’

(WYD Website)