The Reign, in Spain

Fuller Madrid wrap to come... for now, though, lest anyone missed the past week's sights and sounds, more than ever before, a World Youth Day has been preserved for digital posterity.

From the major Pope-helmed events to breakout catecheses and national gatherings, an extensive on-demand video archive is up and running (with English translations/commentary) thanks to Toronto's Salt + Light, itself the fruit of a prior incarnation of Catholicism's Olympic event.

As a taste of the things that transpired between the headline-grabbers of protests, politics, throngs and thunderstorms, one especially moving moment sticks out -- the turn of a 20 year-old, "born deaf and near death" as he put it, who was chosen to welcome B16 on the pontiff's Saturday visit to a home for disabled young people:


And, well, whatever our age or limitations, may Antonio's spirit be an inspiration for, and call to, the lot of us.

PHOTO: Getty

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