We Have Come to Worship Him

The exemplars of journalism at the Catholic Standard & Times want to know: from what element of World Youth Day did the Philadelphia delegation in Cologne get the most enrichment?

Was it the camaraderie of upwards of a million of their fellow young people from around the world? Was it the presence of Pope Benedict XVI, continuing the work of the beloved, the great John Paul II? Was it the realization of experiencing in the flesh before one's eyes that, indeed, "the church is alive, the church is young"?

If you guessed any of these, think again.

For some of the 300 Philadelphia teens and young adults who traveled to World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, the best experience of the pilgrimage was spending time with Cardinal Justin Rigali.

Call me contrarian, but couldn't that have been done at home, here in Philadelphia? Look, I love my Pharaoh just as much as the next minion, but this is honestly like saying that I went to Germany and loved the cheesesteaks I brought with me.

When you make that the lede of the story, you're asking for it.

And for those who keep record of these things, John Paul clocked in on the ninth graf, B16 didn't appear until paragraph 11. Then again, he's only the bishop of Rome.

Welcome to Philadelphia.

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