Castro Letting 200 Cubans Attend

TORONTO, JULY 18, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Two hundred Cubans have been authorized by Fidel Castro to participate in World Youth Day, sources organizing the event reported.

"They would not have been able to come without the intervention of Fidel Castro," Father Thomas Rosica, national director of WYD 2002, told the press. "In past editions of WYD, between 30 and 40 participated."

Meanwhile, another island nation, Ireland, will see 500 of its young people attend World Youth Day. They will be accompanied by Cardinal Desmond Connell and Bishop James Moriarty, archbishop and auxiliary, respectively, of Dublin; and Bishop Michael Smith of Meath.

The Catholic Communications Office in Ireland has set up a special Web feature for World Youth Day 2002. It can be accessed via the office's home page at www.catholiccommunications.ie.

ZENIT - The World Seen from Rome
18. juli 2002