Meeting with nearly 30,000 Angolan young people, Pope Benedict XVI urged them to be wary of today's dominant social culture and to shape the world according to the values of the Gospel.The encounter in a Luanda soccer stadium March 21 was marred by a stampede that killed two young women and injured 89 others, hours before the pope arrived. The pope was informed of the tragedy later that evening and he expressed his condolences at a Mass the next day.
Participants at the rally did not learn until afterward of the deaths, and the festive encounter went on as scheduled. It had a little bit of everything: native dance and song, testimonials from young Catholics, conga ensembles and, above all, tons of enthusiasm among the participants.
The focus of the pope's talk was a simple lesson on how to live the good life.
"My young friends, you hold within yourselves the power to shape the future," he said. But it won't happen without an encounter with God, he said.
"The dominant social culture is not helping you to live by Jesus' word or to practice the self-giving to which he calls you in accordance with the Father's plan," he said.
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