MADRID, Spain, JUNE 2, 2011 (Zenit.org)- From the Spanish royal family to the royalty of the soccer world, World Youth Day organizers are receiving a wave of well wishes and collaboration from Spanish celebrities.
Earlier this week the Prince and Princess of Asturias, the heirs to the Spanish throne, received representatives of the World Youth Day Organizing Committee and the Madrid Vivo Foundation to show their support and enthusiasm for the work these organizations are doing to prepare for the event, which is set to take place Aug. 16-21 in Madrid.
The prince and princess remarked on the great social significance of World Youth Day, which will be a unique opportunity for Spain and its capital city.
Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco, the archbishop of Madrid and president of the youth day organizing committee, spoke to the royal couple of the «many young people from around the world who will come to World Youth Day and discover a vision of hope and joy for a life in which the ‘civilization of love’ is not merely a utopia.»
As a sign of their affection, organizers presented the Prince and Princess of Asturias with World Youth Day T-shirts for their daughters, and a World Youth Day watch for each of them.
The Prince of Asturias, Felipe of Spain, was in Rome for the recent beatification of Pope John Paul II, where he bid farewell to Benedict XVI with the words, «Holy Father, we await you in Madrid!»
¡Gracias!
In other World Youth Day news, the Foundation of the Atlético de Madrid soccer team, along with the World Youth Day organizers, revealed that a celebrity soccer match will take place on the final day youth event.
The initiative, titled «¡Gracias!» (Thank You!), will feature a face-off between a select group of former soccer players and others from around the world at the Vicente Calderón Stadium.
Enrique Cerezo, president of the Atlético de Madrid team, affirmed that «being able to contribute to events of this magnitude is always an extraordinary opportunity.»
«World Youth Day,» he continued, «has an understanding of solidarity that goes hand-in-hand with the ideals of the Foundation Atlético de Madrid, and it gives young people the chance to have a fulfilling experience in transmitting the message of solidarity.»
The sporting event will be open to the public, and not only to the participants of World Youth Day, and the proceeds will go toward funding World Youth Day and to a charity project carried out in collaboration with the Foundation Atlético de Madrid.
The match will feature soccer stars such as Paolo Futre (Portugal), Fernando Hierro (Spain), Milinko Pantic (Serbia), Luis Milla (Spain), Fernando Sanz (Spain), Fran González (Spain), Fabio Celestini (Switzerland), Diego Tristán (Spain), Albert Celades (Spain), Gheorghe ‘Gica’ Craioveanu (Romania), Donato Gama da Silva (Brazil), Antonio ‘Toni’ Muñoz (Spain), Santiago Denia (Spain), Noureddine Naybet (Morocco), Kiko Narvaez (Spain), Ricardo Gallego (Spain), «Lobo» Carrasco (Spain), Thomas Nkono (Cameroon), Veljko Paunovic (Serbia) and others.
There are currently about 400,000 young people from 182 countries registered for World Youth Day in Madrid.
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