The full impact of World Youth Day on the thousands of young Catholics in attendance is hard to assess. The news media used phrases like "pious party." And a Lutheran clergyman remarked that a party atmosphere similar to a pop concert seemed to be an apt description for the mental attitude of thousands in attendance.

World Youth Day was officially opened on Tuesday, August 16, when more than 200,000 pilgrims took part in three simultaneous worship services in Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany. In his sermon, Cologne's cardinal, Joachim Meisner, told the faithful that "World Youth Day should show that faith has an important place in our society."

His colleague Karl Lehmann from Mainz, chairman of the German bishops' conference, added that the Roman Catholic Church has to be a true worldwide church. "We may not withdraw into niches. We have to give a comprehensive public witness."

Pope Benedict XVI, in his first visit to Germany since becoming the new pope, conducted a mass attended by over a million people. "The enthusiasm of the young people who received him in Cologne was no canned applause. It was authentic, moving and infectious. In an age that seems to be so given over to materialism—especially in a country that fears for its prosperity despite its wealth—this enthusiasm is nothing less than a miracle" ("Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", August 19, 2005).

The "miracle" was that a new pope could be so well received in a country where the number of Catholics is diminishing year by year. At a time when surveys show that a surprising number of young Europeans hold religious convictions but are not interested in strict church allegiance, many young Catholics want to be loyal to their church as an institution but disagree with its teachings in key areas. One pilgrim in Cologne remarked that her church's teachings were like a smorgasbord—she picks the ones she likes and ignores the rest.

The Belgian newspaper "De Morgen" echoed the same sentiments: "One can ask whether all the young people are also fans of the new pope. Expressed more vividly: How many of the young girls and women who will cheer him [Pope Benedict XVI] during the communion service will have taken the pill before they swallow the communion wafer?" (August 17, 2005).

In an interview with a German a radio station, Germany's cardinal Karl Lehmann suggested that his church may need to rethink its position on questions of sexual ethics. According to him, the Roman Catholic Church runs the risk of being ignored in an important realm of human behavior.

Lehmann was not implying that the church should change its teachings on birth control, abortion or homosexuality. Instead, he believes that the church's position needs to be presented in a more plausible manner.

Some politicians used World Youth Day to appeal to Pope Benedict XVI to act as an agent of change. Heiner Geißler, a former member of the Bundestag who also held a cabinet post under Helmut Kohl, remarked, "It would be disastrous if this pope were not to free his own church from the shackles that he helped put in place: the fixation of Catholic moral teaching on things sexual—against homosexuality, against communion for the remarried divorced, against female priesthood and for celibacy, against the pill and condoms" ("Aachener Zeitung", August 19, 2005).

Because today's relativism has influenced Christianity so much it may seem miraculous that a religious leader could inspire great enthusiasm in the masses. But that is one of the contradictions so common to our postmodern world.

In the future a religious leader is prophesied to arise who will receive the supernatural power to perform real miracles for the purpose of manipulating the entire population of the world. Revelation 13 describes him as one of two powerful leaders over a world dominating political-religious system. Together, they will seize power with the cunning of wild beasts.

The miracle working religious leader will appear to be "like a lamb" but will speak deceitfully "like a dragon" (verse 11). He will be the religious agent of "the great dragon ... that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceivesthe whole world" (Revelation 12:9).