JERUSALEM, JAN. 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Youth from 400 cities throughout the world will be joining in Masses, Eucharistic adoration and prayer services to implore God to grant peace in the Holy Land.
The 24-hour event, organized by several Italian associations, will take place Saturday principally in Italy, but youth from Europe, the United States, South America, Africa and Australia will also participate.
The celebrations will be passed on from city to city during the event, with highlights being a Mass scheduled at 1 p.m. local time at the Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza, and 24 hours of prayer to be said at the altar of Calvary at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
Vatican City will also participate in the day of prayer with a Mass celebrated on Saturday morning by Cardinal Raffaele Farina, the prefect of the Vatican Library, with the Salesian community of the Vatican printing office.
The International Day of Intercession for Peace is a response to the plea Benedict XVI made Dec. 28 for «fervent prayer» for peace for the Holy Land.
On that occasion he said «Jesus’ homeland cannot continue to be witness of so much bloodshed, which continues endlessly!»
The initiative is organized by Italian youth organizations Papaboys, Youth for Life and Chapels of Perpetual Adoration in Italy.
The organizers created a Facebook page in Italian called «Vogliamo la Pace in Terra Santa» (We Want Peace in the Holy Land), which had as of today more than 4,000 members.
— — —
On the Net:
Papaboys: (In Italian) http://www.papaboys.it/eventi/read.asp?id=45
Youth for Life: http://www.youthfl.org/home_page.html
