Be Saints! An Invitation from Pope Benedict XVI is written by author and blogger Amy Welborn and illustrated by the award-winning New York-based watercolourist Ann Kissane Engelhart, whose paintings have been featured in the Empire State Building and St Francis Hospital among other landmarks.

The book features scenes from the “Big Assembly”, where children from around England and Wales saw the Holy Father at St Mary’s College in Twickenham.

Also among the illustrations are Blessed John Henry Newman conducting a choir and a young man praying to St Thomas More and St John Fisher.

The project began in 2009 after Mrs Englehart, who had been reading Welborn’s blog Charlotte Was Both, and suggested working on a project about Benedict’s message.

The book gives advice on friendship with God, finding happiness and “giving yourself totally to Jesus”, as well as quotes by Pope Benedict such as: “What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ, and that we love him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary.”

Be Saints! An Invitation from Pope Benedict XVI is published by the Catholic Truth Society and is on sale for £9.95.

Benedict XVI said that the “New Evangelisation depends largely on the domestic Church” in his address to the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family yesterday (full text, video).

Dioceses in England and Wales have been asked to pay the remaining costs of last year’s papal visit by March 2012.

The Franciscan University of Steubenville has given its 2011 Poverello Medal to Fr Benedict Groeschel.

The District of Columbia Office of Human Rights has dismissed an accusation that the Catholic University of America’s single-sex dorm policy constitutes unlawful discrimination.

In an Advent reflection, Mgr Andrew Burnham says that there remain “unresolved questions for the whole ordinariate“.

John Coleman SJ celebrates the 100th birthday of Catholic convert Tennessee Williams.

Peter Freeman wonders if Mel Gibson will do justice to the story of Judah Maccabee.

And Meg Matenaer profiles the community behind Mystic Monk coffee.

Members from the Kingsclere chapel of Ss Peter and Paul joined those from Tadley to mark the first anniversary of Pope Benedict’s state visit in 2010.

The Mass, parts of which were sung in Latin, included hymns written by Blessed John Henry Newman and English chants from the new translation. The Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane was unable to attend but will be present for the solemnity of Christ the King in November when some of the themes of Pope Benedict’s visit will be reconsidered in respect of the place of religious belief, within our political life as Christians.

The photograph above shows parishioners celebrating in St Michael’s church parish room after the Mass. Because of inclement weather the planned parish picnic had to be held inside.

Archbishop Nichols presented and read extracts from the message from the Bishops’ Conference of England Wales made public on the official anniversary of the papal visit.

Deacon Michael Glover, aged 25, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, responded on behalf of all the seminarians present.

He said: “Most Reverend Father, on behalf of the seminarians of England and Wales who are here, the formation staff from our venerable institutions and everyone else who finds themselves here today, I would like to thank you for those thought-provoking reflections on the papal visit to the United Kingdom. Thank you also for bringing us here together.

“When I was asked to say a few words, after an initial moment of panic, I took solace from a cup of tea which I drank from my ‘Heart Speaks unto Heart’ official papal visit mug. Then, reclining in my chair, I thought back to the events of last year.”

He continued: “One of the most profound moments for me, during the papal visit, was when we all met at Oscott after the Mass of beatification at Cofton Park. The whole shape and character of that last part of the visit had the sense of a family event. The bishops gathered around the Bishop of Rome and the seminarians gathered around their Holy Father.

“The footage of the Holy Father’s visit to Oscott and, in particular, the photograph with the seminarians on the front steps of Oscott, has had over 5,000 hits on YouTube. That is not quite as many as Susan Boyle, but 5,000 hits is a significant number. It’s more than seminarians trying to spot themselves on television!”

He added: “That photograph of the seminarians of this country surrounding the Holy Father was extraordinary. It was clear that there was a love for the Holy Father. It was clear that there was a common desire among everyone on those steps to follow Christ and serve him authentically.

“That photo on the steps of Oscott was not just an opportune snapshot for a newspaper or magazine. It was an image of hope for the Catholic community in the United Kingdom.”

He concluded: “The Lord still calls men to the priesthood and there are men listening to that call and answering it. Gathered on those steps we, as seminarians, said to the people of this country that the future is hopeful, there is something worthwhile in following Christ’s call to the priesthood.”

The bishops issued a message to Catholics in England and Wales on Sunday setting out their priorities for the next five years (full text).

The first anniversary was also marked by messages from Benedict XVI, David Cameron and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Pope Benedict has said that he is looking forward to praying with Protestants later this week in the Augustinian monastery where Martin Luther “began his path”.

The Pope described St Paul as a man who embodied the New Evangelisation in his Angelus address at Castel Gandolfo yesterday.

Voters in Liechtenstein have rejected a plan to legalise abortion in the tiny principality.

Sister Elena Aiello, an Italian nun who predicted the fall of Mussolini and bore the stigmata, was beatified in Calabria last week.

Fr Federico Lombardi previews the Pope’s trip to Germany, which begins this Thursday.

CNN’s John Blake hails Fr Richard Rohr’s “spiritual survival guide” for gloomy economic times.

And Kate McGeown catches up with Fr Robert Reyes, a priest who is running across the Philippines to raise awareness of corruption.

In the message, the bishops said that their priorities for “the next three to five years” related to three areas: “mission, teaching and witness”.

They said: “Integral to this work is recognising the importance of being confident, faithful and courageous in our mission, teaching and witness.

“Following the wonderful example Pope Benedict has given us, in our mission we must be gentle but also confident in manifesting the ‘beauty of holiness’, a beauty which can lead the heart of every person to an intimate knowledge of Christ.

“In our teaching, we must be courteous but also faithful in proclaiming the ‘splendour of truth’ through ‘the witness of lives lived in integrity, fidelity and holiness’.

“In our witness, we must be humble and open-hearted but also courageous in testifying to ‘the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ’.”

The bishops continued: “In respect of our mission, our first priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim the universal call to holiness in Christ – by promoting a culture of vocation within the corporate identity of the Catholic Church, marked by a confident Catholic faith’.

“In relation to ‘teaching’, the second priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim Christ and his Gospel as saving truth – by fostering and encouraging a culture of dialogue and solidarity’.

“And in terms of witness, our third priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God – by serving and witnessing to the whole community, especially by supporting marginalised and vulnerable people.’ ”

The bishops then named seven “aims and objectives”.

“We have re-established Friday abstinence as a common act of witness and of solidarity with those who are in need or suffer and as an expression of our vocation to follow Christ who sacrificed his life for the good of all humanity,” they said.

“We are actively encouraging lay Catholics to witness publicly to their faith with renewed confidence and to communicate a culture of vocation to a wide audience.

“We are creating a national vocations framework, offering discernment opportunities to all, not only to ecclesial vocations but also to marriage and other forms of lay witness.

“We will continue to encourage the programme we have begun of ‘deepening social engagement’ to bring greater coherence, support and visibility to the Church’s evangelising witness through the development of ‘Caritas’ within England and Wales.

“We will foster opportunities to ‘build bridges of friendship to other religions, to heal past wrongs and to foster trust between individuals and communities’ by building on the unique and inspirational encounter between people of faith and representatives of other religions which took place during the Holy Father’s Visit.

“We will work with other Christians and people of other religions to identify the areas of greatest need, at home and abroad, so that we can come ‘together in concrete forms of collaboration, as we apply our religious insights to the task of promoting integral human development, working for peace, justice and the stewardship of creation’ and to work ‘together for the good of the community at large’.

“We will strengthen our communication of the work of the Church through the use of new technology and build partnerships with appropriate media outlets to build on the vision of the New Evangelisation for the transmission of the Christian Faith.”

The bishops concluded their message with an appeal to Catholics not to view the future “anxiously or fearfully, but with renewed hope and courage”.

They said: “In coming to the UK, the Holy Father ‘wanted first and foremost to support the Catholic community, encouraging it to work strenuously to defend the immutable moral truths which, taken up, illuminated and strengthened by the Gospel are at the root of a truly human, just and free society.’ He also wished ‘to speak to the hearts of all the inhabitants of the United Kingdom, excluding no one, of the true reality of man, of his deepest needs, of his ultimate destiny.’

“We believe that the ‘beauty of holiness’, the ‘splendour of truth’ and the ‘joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ’ can still speak powerfully to the hearts of the people of our country. This is the inspiration for our work ahead.

“On this Home Mission Sunday, the anniversary of the Holy Father’s visit to our country, we renew our faith in the power of God to lead us all through the difficult times faced by our nation and by our world. Confidently Catholic, we look forward then not anxiously or fearfully but with renewed hope and courage. We invoke God’s blessing on our country and on our world.”

A PILGRIMAGE TO THE HEART OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE

On this anniversary of the momentous Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom, we recall the excitement, vision and hope that stirred in the hearts of so many who watched or took part in those historic events. Many experienced the Visit as a powerful encounter of God’s love and a welcome response to the “deep thirst there is among the British people for the Good News of Jesus Christ”.

Only a few days after returning to Rome from the UK, the Holy Father spoke movingly of the importance of the Visit:

“It was an official Visit and at the same time a Pilgrimage to the heart of the past and of the present of a people rich in culture and faith, as is the British people. It was an historic event that marked a new and important phase in the long and complex relations between those peoples and the Holy See….in the four busy and very beautiful days I spent in this noble land I had the great joy of speaking to the hearts of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and they spoke to mine, especially with their presence and with the testimony of their faith. Indeed I could see how strong the Christian heritage still is and how active it still is in social life at every level. British hearts and British lives are open to the reality of God and there are numerous expressions of religious feeling that my Visit has made even more visible.”

A VISION FOR THE CHURCH IN OUR LAND

Mindful of the need to “proclaim the Gospel afresh”, Pope Benedict presented a vision and direction for the Church in our land. This vision challenges each Christian believer, “in accordance with his or her state of life”, to work “for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel”. Inspired by the teaching of Blessed John Henry Newman, it directs the Church on a journey where, “each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person”. All of this, the Holy Father reminded us, can only be attained “By letting the light of faith shine in our hearts, and by abiding in that light through our daily union with the Lord in prayer and participation in the life-giving sacraments of the Church”.

What this vision encourages us to seek and hope for is the renewal of Church and society through the mission, teaching and witness of all the Christian faithful. Pope Benedict has helped many to see that faith in God is not a problem to be solved but a gift to be discovered afresh. By his gentle, courteous, humble and open-hearted approach, the Holy Father models for us a way in which we can share this vision with others. By our gentle, courteous, humble and open-hearted living of the Christian faith, we too can proclaim the Gospel through the “beauty of holiness”, “the splendour of truth” and “the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ”.

In setting out this vision, the Holy Father also reminded us that we must be realistic in our understanding of contemporary society and the world around us. The financial crisis which Pope Benedict spoke of a year ago and the suffering of long term unemployment which has caused so much hardship to countless individuals and families, is still very much with us and its end seems a long way off. The effects of the global economic emergency, the desperate living conditions which millions of people face all over the world, the lack of hope and the profound crisis of faith within our society, form the context in which this vision is presented. Nevertheless, Pope Benedict reminded us that it is precisely in times of “crisis and upheaval” that “God has raised up great saints and prophets for the renewal of the Church and Christian society”. All the Christian faithful should then reflect on and, seek the graces for, the particular “definite service” that Almighty God is calling us to give.

THE NEW EVANGELISATION

A significant part of our continuing reflection on the Holy Father’s Visit and the vision he presented to us will involve next year’s XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. This Synod will have as its theme: ‘The New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Christian Faith’.

After his Visit to the UK, Pope Benedict explained that: “In addressing the citizens of… (the United Kingdom), a crossroads of culture and of the world economy, I kept in mind the entire West, conversing with the intellect of this civilization and communicating the unfading newness of the Gospel in which it is steeped. This Apostolic Journey strengthened a deep conviction within me: the ancient nations of Europe have a Christian soul, which is one with the ‘genius’ and history of the respective peoples, and the Church never stops working to keep this spiritual and cultural tradition ceaselessly alive.”

That statement links the urgency of the New Evangelisation with the vision and challenge presented by the Holy Father during his Visit. The Christian faith has ancient and deep roots in our lands. It has formed our nation and continues to play an important role in forming many aspects of our national and cultural life. It has a voice and a resonance which find a home in many a heart of those within our land who would not necessarily call themselves Christian.

Yet, as Pope Benedict stated: “No-one who looks realistically at our world today could think that Christians can afford to go on with business as usual, ignoring the profound crisis of faith which has overtaken society, or simply trusting that the patrimony of values handed down by the Christian centuries will continue to inspire and shape the future of our society.”

The challenge of the New Evangelisation is then, ‘how’ we “work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel” and “present in all its fullness the life giving message of the Gospel”.

THE WORK AHEAD

Over the past year, we the Bishops of England and Wales have reflected together on the Holy Father’s “pilgrimage to the heart of the British people” and the vision he presented. We have considered the challenge he issued to the Church, to proclaim the Gospel, “which liberates our minds and enlightens our efforts to live wisely and well, both as individuals and as members of society”. Together with the Church throughout the world, we are determining the demands of the New Evangelisation.

We have begun to formulate how the mission, teaching and witness that we must give will be expressed strategically in the priorities, aims and objectives for our work as a Bishops’ Conference over the next three to five years. These priorities will shape our work as a Bishops’ Conference, determining our use of scarce resources and offered in support of the mission of every diocese in England and Wales.

Integral to this work is recognising the importance of being confident, faithful and courageous in our mission, teaching and witness. Following the wonderful example Pope Benedict has given us, in our mission we must be gentle but also confident in manifesting the ‘beauty of holiness’, a beauty which can lead the heart of every person to an intimate knowledge of Christ. In our teaching, we must be courteous but also faithful in proclaiming the ‘splendour of truth’ through “the witness of lives lived in integrity, fidelity and holiness”. In our witness, we must be humble and open-hearted but also courageous in testifying to ‘the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ’.

In respect of our mission, our first priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim the universal call to holiness in Christ – by promoting a culture of vocation within the corporate identity of the Catholic Church, marked by a confident Catholic faith’; in relation to ‘teaching’, the second priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim Christ and his Gospel as saving truth – by fostering and encouraging a culture of dialogue and solidarity’; and in terms of witness, our third priority area of work will be: ‘To proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God – by serving and witnessing to the whole community, especially by supporting marginalised and vulnerable people’.

Within these priority areas we have already identified a number of aims and objectives:

We have re-established Friday abstinence as a common act of witness and of solidarity with those who are in need or suffer and as an expression of our vocation to follow Christ who sacrificed his life for the good of all humanity.

We are actively encouraging lay Catholics to witness publicly to their faith with renewed confidence and to communicate a culture of vocation to a wide audience.

We are creating a national vocations framework, offering discernment opportunities to all, not only to ecclesial vocations but also to marriage and other forms of lay witness.

We will continue to encourage the programme we have begun of ‘deepening social engagement’ to bring greater coherence, support and visibility to the Church’s evangelising witness through the development of ‘Caritas’ within England and Wales.

We will foster opportunities to “build bridges of friendship to other religions, to heal past wrongs and to foster trust between individuals and communities” by building on the unique and inspirational encounter between people of faith and representatives of other religions which took place during the Holy Father’s Visit.

We will work with other Christians and people of other religions to identify the areas of greatest need, at home and abroad, so that we can come “together in concrete forms of collaboration, as we apply our religious insights to the task of promoting integral human development, working for peace, justice and the stewardship of creation” and to work “together for the good of the community at large”.

We will strengthen our communication of the work of the Church through the use of new technology and build partnerships with appropriate media outlets to build on the vision of the New Evangelisation for the transmission of the Christian Faith.

CONFIDENTLY CATHOLIC

In coming to the UK, the Holy Father “…wanted first and foremost to support the Catholic Community, encouraging it to work strenuously to defend the immutable moral truths which, taken up, illuminated and strengthened by the Gospel are at the root of a truly human, just and free society.” He also wished “…to speak to the hearts of all the inhabitants of the United Kingdom, excluding no one, of the true reality of man, of his deepest needs, of his ultimate destiny.”

We believe that the ‘beauty of holiness’, the ‘splendour of truth’ and the ‘joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ’ can still speak powerfully to the hearts of the people of our country. This is the inspiration for our work ahead.

On this Home Mission Sunday, the anniversary of the Holy Father’s visit to our country, we renew our faith in the power of God to lead us all through the difficult times faced by our nation and by our world. Confidently Catholic, we look forward then not anxiously or fearfully but with renewed hope and courage. We invoke God’s blessing on our country and on our world.

In a statement marking the first anniversary of Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain, David Cameron said: “One year ago, the landmark visit of Pope Benedict gave millions of British Catholic an opportunity to celebrate their faith, while sharing a powerful message with everyone in our country about the importance of compassion, tolerance and justice.

“The Pope’s message is just as relevant today. The shocking riots in the UK underline that we need more than ever to build a culture of social responsibility and develop strong and powerful communites as we deal with tough economic challenges.

“We should also be proud that Britain’s generosity is saving the lives of millions in East Africa and countless others affected by disasters across the globe.”

He concluded: “I am deeply proud of the enormous contribution people of faith have made to our society and look forward to continuing our ever-closer co-operation between the UK and the Holy See as we work for the common good.”

He said at his ordination Mass that it was “an exciting time to become a bishop”.

Bishop Sherrington said: “In the light of the Pope’s visit last year and the deep searching within many people for spiritual values and for a better life in the community, the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ can fall on fertile soil if we are courageous to proclaim it.”

The new bishop, ordained by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, will be responsible for the Hertfordshire area of the archdiocese and will be chairman of its education commission.

In his homily Archbishop Nichols said Bishop Sherrington was the first bishop to be ordained in England and Wales since Pope Benedict XVI’s visit almost a year ago.

He said an “essential task” of a bishop was to lead the laity towards a “deeper life of faith and service”. “The more faithful you are to your Episcopal ministry, the more you will – and again I use the Holy Father’s words – ‘inspire all Christ’s followers to conform their every thought, word and action to Christ’ “, the archbishop said.

He said: “Your episcopal ministry will bring you great joy but, so too, many challenges. You’re clearly a man blessed with many gifts and a wealth of experience. Nevertheless, there will be moments when you are acutely aware of your weakness and are tempted to consider that even your best efforts are fruitless.

“However, as you have said yourself, ‘you know you need to rely on God’s grace more deeply than ever and to cultivate your life of prayer’ “, the archbishop said.

The ordination Mass was attended by the nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark, Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff, 14 Catholic bishops and over 60 priests.

It was attended by Orthodox, Methodist and other Protestant representatives, as well as several peers.

An apostolic letter from Pope Benedict XVI, read out in the Cathedral, can be heard here.

Bishop Sherrington was ordained a priest for the Nottingham Diocese in 1987 and has been parish priest for the Good Shepherd parish in Nottingham for the past two years. He has also assisted the bishops’ conference on ethical issues and was a part of the working party for the bishops’ conference document Cherishing Life (2005).

After graduating in 1980 with a degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and two years working for as a management consultants, Fr Sherrington was accepted in 1982 by Bishop McGuinness for the Nottingham diocese and joined seminary at All Hallows in Dublin.

In 1990 he gained an STL in Moral Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome and lectured in moral theology at All Hallows in Dublin and then at St John’s Seminary in Wonersh, Guildford.

Now, it’s true that young Catholics were pretty keen on John Paul II as well. But I sense a peculiar sort of affection for Benedict XVI from young people; something that goes beyond the enthusiasm for John Paul II. For one thing, the present Pope is easily as charismatic as his predecessor. But while John Paul II was a skilful media operator who revelled in his frequent “photo ops” with the likes of Princess Di, there was always a feeling that JPII the man wasn’t quite the same individual as JPII the Pope. You might even go as far as to say that his personal charisma and his office were in tension with one another.

John Paul II’s Masses were sometimes uncomfortable marriages of prescribed ritual and modern culture, but there’s a particular genius about the way the present Pope interprets his role. And observe how, acting through his master of ceremonies, Mgr Guido Marini, he stamped his authority – and, at the same time, his personality – on the papal visit to Britain. That authority came across as authentic and compelling. And young people have natural desire to attach themselves to such charismatic figures.

In Benedict XVI, the public and private seem to be in much closer harmony. His ability to blend his own personality with the grandeur of his office seems to be leading young people to feel a personal connection with him that they don’t with a faceless diocesan bureaucracy.

His kindliness and grandfatherly demeanour appeal to them, because they seem more genuine than the cringeworthy attempts to “reach out” that young Catholics are so often made to suffer.

Many of the last few years’ liturgical reforms and encouragements, such as the “Benedictine” altar arrangement, have the effect of reducing attention on the celebrant, while adding solemnity to the proceedings with their dramatic symbols and more elevating music.

Nowhere is the failure of the Church to connect with young people better illustrated than on its own websites. This is a subject on which I’ve written at length before, so I won’t bang on about it too much, except to make one observation: navigate to the “youth” page of our own Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales’s website and the most prominent graphic you’ll see is for National Youth Sunday… 2009. I wonder what a generation brought up on Twitter makes of that.

One can only imagine what young Catholics think when they read the leaflets distributed to them, hoping to find relevant information about the faith and instead being bombarded with Left-wing propaganda about “action for justice”. It doesn’t seem to bear much relation to the Holy Father’s warnings about the dangers of relativism and secularisation, that’s for sure. Nor his teachings on “the dead-end streets of consumerism”, which he says are a particular threat to young people.

Back in 2007, in reference to ever-worsening preoccupations among the young with fashion and self-image, Benedict XVI noted: “How sad it is when young people lose the marvel, the enchantment, of the most beautiful feelings, the value of respect for one’s body.”

Of course, not all teenagers are in hock to the excesses of Jersey Shore. So, as we experience what must surely be the apex of grotesque celebrity obsession in society at large, no wonder the Pope’s message speaks so loudly to the young.

In fact, there’s an unmistakable, resurgent conservatism among many young Catholics at present – just as there is among young Jews and Muslims. Some Church leaders seem unwilling or unable to relate to this renaissance in traditional worship because they’re men of the 70s. So, too, it has to be said, are many of the people in charge of Catholic media outlets and other Catholic organisations, which may explain why they struggle to produce credible content that appeals to teenagers and young adults.

But if bishops’ conferences, and even some parts of the Catholic media, are uncomfortable with this new young conservatism, Benedict XVI is not. In fact, it’s something he shares with the upcoming generation. As Cardinal Ratzinger, this Pope was known to be sceptical of bureaucracies, and of bishops’ conferences in particular, as a way of connecting people to the Church. Yes, they play an important part in mobilising young people to attend events like World Youth Day, but one wonders whether they’re really the best institutional model to safeguard the future of the Church when they struggle so badly to cultivate enthusiasm from the young.

(There’s also the fact that the Vatican has traditionally played very safe with episcopal appointments, leading to a dearth of charismatic bishops in some countries. American bishops like Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston are the exception, not the rule, as I discovered when I met him in Texas in 2008. And on the subject of Galveston-Houston, check out the archdiocese’s website if you get chance: it’s a model of what a modern Church site ought to look like.)

Thus – and I hope this is not too extravagant, or perhaps I mean hopeful, a suggestion – there’s a sort of contraction going on in what you might call the middle management tier of the Catholic Church. A collapse, even, as young people, who are looking for direct and charismatic leadership in tune with their own politics, and even liturgical inclinations, reach out directly to the Holy Father.

Pope Benedict XVI’s honesty, rigour and scrupulousness – despite opposition, even from within the Church – strike many as heroic, and represent a kind of personal leadership that is entirely absent from other corners of public life. Is it any wonder 1.5 million young people showed up last week to celebrate his arrival in Madrid?