That enormous wave of young people who poured into Rome 22 years ago, represented then, and still represents today, one of the strongest symbols of Pope John Paul II's ecumenical journey.

It was the Polish Pope himself, 15 years earlier, who wanted an event that would bring young people together in a moment of reflection and prayer, but also of collective joy, in the name of the Christian faith.

After the establishment of World Youth Day, which John Paul II wanted to be organised in different cities around the world, the event became more and more important as the years went by, with an ever greater response from young people.

On the tenth anniversary of the event, celebrated in Manila in the Philippines, from January 10 to 15 1995, the closing vigil of the event was attended by an estimated four to five million people, the largest event among Youth Days, followed by Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

The pontiff, who in 2000 was already suffering heavily from the effects of illness, by now showed all the fatigue of years of travelling and constant commitments around the world, but his ageing frame did not prevent him from engaging with the cheering crowds. Arriving in the huge Tor Vergata space holding the hands of five young people, representing the five continents, many moments of great symbolic importance attributed to John Paul II transpired, including his long ride on board the 'popemobile', how he immersed himself, and enjoyed the festive shouts and chants of the two million young people who had come from all over the world.

But it was the pastoral message of the elderly pontiff that was the real revolutionary force of that important 15th World Youth Day, addressed to young boys and girls, a powerful message of hope, looking towards the third millennium.

Young attendees braved the event with a rare intensity, facing the torrid temperatures of the Roman summer, their eyes full of joy as they participated in the historic event, even trying to brush against the elderly, eighty-year-old pontiff.

"You will not resign yourselves to a world in which more human beings die of hunger, remain illiterate, lack work. You will defend life at every moment of its earthly development, you will strive with all your energy to make this earth more and more habitable for all.”

This is a message that nowadays, more than twenty years after those memorable moments of celebration and prayer, seems sadly premonitory of our need for peace - peace that is, unfortunately, difficult to achieve.

But John Paul II's message obviously had a very precise matrix, which is that of the path of Faith:

"Dear young people, is it difficult to believe in such a world? Is it difficult to believe in the year 2000? Yes! It is difficult.

“There is no need to hide it. It is difficult, but with the help of grace it is possible, as Jesus explained to Peter:  'Neither flesh nor blood has revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven' (Mt 16:17).

“Tonight, I will give you the Gospel. It is the gift that the pope leaves you in this unforgettable vigil.

“The word contained in it is the word of Jesus. If you listen to it in silence, in prayer, letting the wise counsel of your priests and educators help you to understand it for your own lives, then you will meet Christ and follow him, committing your lives to him day after day!

“Indeed, it is Jesus whom you seek when you dream of happiness; it is He who waits for you when nothing satisfies you of what you find; it is He who is the beauty that so attracts you; it is He who provokes you with that thirst for the radical that does not allow you to adapt to compromise; it is He who urges you to lay aside the masks that make life false; it is He who reads in your heart the truest decisions that others would like to stifle.

It is Jesus who arouses in you the desire to make something great of your life, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to let yourselves be swallowed up by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves with humility and perseverance, to improve yourselves and society, making it more human and fraternal.”

At the end of the vigil, the pope then greeted the young people with these words:

"There is a Polish proverb that says: 'Kto z kim przestaje, takim się staje'. It means: 'If you live with young people, you must also become young. So, I come back rejuvenated'.

“And once again I greet all of you, especially those who are further behind, in the shadows, and see nothing.

“But even if they couldn’t see, they certainly could hear this 'uproar'. This 'uproar' affected Rome and Rome will never forget it!”

This story is told, of a particularly radiant pontiff, who flew in a helicopter over the Tor Vergata university campus that welcomed an enormous expanse of young people.

After the event in Rome, John Paul II would attend his last World Youth Day two years later, in Toronto. But perhaps the gathering in Rome is the most symbolic moment of the pastoral legacy that John Paul II wanted to leave to young people.

The 'papaboys', those boys and girls of Tor Vergata, are probably over forty years old today, and certainly still recall the words of the elderly, tired pontiff, perhaps hoping to have the strength to transmit that message of peace, faith and hope, to the new generations themselves.