No pope in recent history has ever touched the hearts of young people as the late Pope John Paul II. He had what most popes do not have – charm.

He charmed his way into their hearts as he charmed his way into the lives of many people – the poor, the rich, the powerful, the unbelievers, political leaders as well as people in the entertainment and media business.

His charm was a vehicle for his powerful intellect and iron will. It was this iron will, so well known from his early days as a university student and seminarian in Krakow, that ensured the staging of the first World Youth Day (WYD) in Rome in 1986.

John Paul insisted on this event against much opposition because he saw the long-term impact it would have on the life of the Church.

John Paul's successor, Benedict XVI, has now followed in his footsteps as he presides at the WYD closing Mass today in Cologne , Germany .

Over 100 local participants left for Germany two Tuesdays ago under the guidance of Sr Kathleen Joseph, OP, Episcopal delegate for youth and Fr Christian Chambers.

Many other participants from the AEC region are also in Cologne for what is expected to be a gathering of almost one million young people.

This is the 20 th WYD event and the theme is We Have Come to Worship Him , a title in keeping with the Year of the Eucharist which concludes this October.

The title itself implies a huge problem facing the entire Christian world, especially young people. “We Have Come to Worship Him” presumes faith and reverence but we cannot worship what we do not believe.

The entire western world is falling prey to agnosticism and there is a strong current of agnosticism right here in Trinidad and Tobago .

CHALLENGE FOR CHURCH

People today people prefer to talk about being spiritual rather than religious, which often ends up being a hodge-podge of various beliefs more New Age in character than Christian.

It is hard for young people to come to faith when they are more intrigued by the Jesus of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code than by Jesus of the gospels.

But this is exactly where John Paul met them – in a world surrounded by agnosticism, materialism, broken relationships and the aggrandisement of the flesh.

Commentators over the past 18 years have said that young people have come in the hundreds of thousands to WYD not because they were convinced of all John Paul had to say; they came because in him they saw the Church loved them.

They felt even though they often could not live up to the Church's teachings, especially on sexual morality, John Paul made then feel welcome as when at a WYD forum, with arms open and a big smile on his face, he greeted them saying, “My dear young people, John Paul loves you.” The crowds went wild for if the Pope loves them then Jesus must surely love them too.

Herein lies the challenge for the Caribbean Church: amidst the brokenness of everyday life, Church leaders must make young people feel loved and that they have a necessary part to play in the building up of the kingdom.

Like John Paul, they must meet them where they are, challenge them to be better and believe they can be.