Firstly, these are young people who hunger for the transcendent as a reality in their lives — that is, they are searching for a personal and real encounter with God. Nothing else will suffice, and as the past has demonstrated, WYD is the pivotal moment for many in the identification of a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, a fact celebrated and noted at WYD and by Benedict this trip who met separately with young religious, and again with seminarians and young priests. With over 25,000 priests and religious at WYD, it is no wonder that this life has once again become an exciting option for many. With young people thirsting for God, and with heroic examples of happy and holy priests in the world today — most visibly John Paul II and now his successor, Pope Benedict — it is no wonder that religious vocations are once again on the rise.

Secondly, young people are joyful in their Catholic faith, recognising it as a gift to which they can freely respond, rather than as an obligation imposed on them by the Church, their culture or some other figure of authority. Both John Paul II and Benedict have made this teaching of the freedom of the person in relation to Christ a central theme of their papacies and work; with it comes the necessity to defend the freedom of the person in all areas, and, in particular, to insist upon the sacredness of conscience, particularly in the area of freedom of religion. Young people at WYD understand this.

Thirdly, young people at WYD recognise that ideas have consequences, and that the ideas to which they commit bear upon the choices and challenges that they will embrace as they live their lives. Nowhere is this more clear than in the understanding young Catholics have today about the necessity of the defence of the dignity of the person; defended by the church on theological terms, but also in the public square through the use and engagement of reason alone. Pope Benedict addressed this explicitly this week in his address to young people with disabilities, but has continued to reiterate, as John Paul II did before him, the great task facing this young generation, of insisting upon the freedom of the human person by recognising the fundamental dignity of the person which must be protected and affirmed at all stages of life.

Taken together — a desire for God, a recognition of personal freedom (and responsibility), and the understanding that the task of freedom is the defense of the human person — a roadmap for the work of this generation quickly emerges. Along with the three million young people in Madrid this week are all of the other young people who have attended WYD over the past 26 years. They number over 20 million. And, as the Italian reporters calculated at the Rome WYD in 2000, for each young person attending a given WYD, there are 10 more who think like them back at home.

Such a number begins to translate into a new cultural revolution. It is quiet, since it takes place primarily in the heart of individual persons, who decide each day, with each action, what choices to make. It is quiet because it involves the choices of young people to become priests and religious, vocations which the world thinks nothing of, and which it is not able to understand. It is quiet because it involves other choices by young people to marry and found families, becoming mothers and fathers. The task of raising children is a noble and a great one, but it is also quiet, and happens, when it happens well, behind the scenes. It is quiet because among these millions of young people, whose hearts have been touched by the witness and challenge of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, are those who have quietly given their lives to the defence of the human person, renewing their task each and every day.

Nevertheless, this quiet cultural revolution is becoming a revolution of significance. With 50 million active participants in the development and implementation of the project of JPII and Benedict XVI in the world, such a project begins to be felt and contributes to the shape of the world.

Today, Benedict XVI sent the three million pilgrims home, but not without the final parting injunction to have the courage to be witnesses to the truth in every area of their lives. I believe that they will do so, and that we will continue to see this witness to the truth in their lives, and in the culture and world around us.