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LUCKY SEVERSON, guest anchor: Pope John Paul II is here in the Western Hemisphere, on his 11-day visit to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico. It's an arduous journey for John Paul -- a trip marked by determination and inspiration. He began in Canada, where he has been presiding over World Youth Day activities. Kim Lawton has our report, from Toronto.
KIM LAWTON: There were tears and cheers -- a welcome befitting the international superstar status this frail 82-year-old still commands. More than 250,000 young Catholics from 169 nations came here to see John Paul II and to hear his vision of the role young people play in the Church.
He told them Jesus Christ was counting on them.
Pope JOHN PAUL II: Christ needs your youth and your generous enthusiasm to make his proclamation of joy resound in the new millennium."
LAWTON: And he said the Church was looking to them with confidence.
GEORGE WEIGEL (Papal Biographer): He holds the bar of expectation very high and says to young people, "You're capable of moral grandeur. You're capable of moral heroism. Don't settle for less than what you are capable of."
LAWTON: It's a message that resonates deeply with many here, including 19-year-old J.D. Flynn from New Jersey.
J.D. FLYNN (Pope World Youth Day Attendee): The Pope doesn't coddle us; he doesn't treat us like children and neither did Christ. The Pope knows young people have energy and he knows that if they fall in love with Christ, they'll follow him to the ends of the earth. And so that's what he requires of them.
LAWTON: John Paul created World Youth Day nearly 20 years ago as a way to excite young people about the Church. His appearances are always the highlight, but World Youth Day has also evolved into an entire week of activities that include fun, service and spiritual development.
J.D. was part of a group of young Catholics who walked here all the way from San Francisco, nearly 3,000 miles. Along the way they prayed and showed their opposition to abortion. They arrived on opening day and immediately began making friends.
Organizers believe World Youth Day offers a key opportunity to bolster a unified Catholic identity.
REE LATHAM: I look around and I see Catholics and they're here because they're Catholics and they're here because they want to be Catholics and they want to be better Catholics. It's just really exciting.
LAWTON: There was a festival atmosphere, but organizers also built in serious religious components. There were daily teaching sessions -- Catechesis classes led by bishops and cardinals.
Cardinal FRANCIS GEORGE (Archdiocese of Chicago): This is an encounter with the Lord, and they have to be taught who the Lord is. So the catechesis does that, and then out of that, generosity is touched and they do service works. So it's prayer, Catechesis, service.
LAWTON: There was also daily Mass. And at a nearby park, a thousand priests were commissioned to hear confessions, 200 at a time, in numerous languages. Some experts believe the emphasis on such traditions of the faith has great appeal for the under-25 generation. Colleen Carroll spent a year studying the spirituality of young people.
COLLEEN CARROLL (Author, "The New Faithful"): The very things their parents saw as oppressive, young adults see as exciting, even exotic.
LAWTON: She admits the participants here may not be typical of their generation, but she's one of several experts who see a growing trend toward a more traditional practice of Christianity.
KIM LAWTON: There were tears and cheers -- a welcome befitting the international superstar status this frail 82-year-old still commands. More than 250,000 young Catholics from 169 nations came here to see John Paul II and to hear his vision of the role young people play in the Church.
He told them Jesus Christ was counting on them.
Pope JOHN PAUL II: Christ needs your youth and your generous enthusiasm to make his proclamation of joy resound in the new millennium."LAWTON: And he said the Church was looking to them with confidence.
GEORGE WEIGEL (Papal Biographer): He holds the bar of expectation very high and says to young people, "You're capable of moral grandeur. You're capable of moral heroism. Don't settle for less than what you are capable of."
LAWTON: It's a message that resonates deeply with many here, including 19-year-old J.D. Flynn from New Jersey.
J.D. FLYNN (Pope World Youth Day Attendee): The Pope doesn't coddle us; he doesn't treat us like children and neither did Christ. The Pope knows young people have energy and he knows that if they fall in love with Christ, they'll follow him to the ends of the earth. And so that's what he requires of them.LAWTON: John Paul created World Youth Day nearly 20 years ago as a way to excite young people about the Church. His appearances are always the highlight, but World Youth Day has also evolved into an entire week of activities that include fun, service and spiritual development.
J.D. was part of a group of young Catholics who walked here all the way from San Francisco, nearly 3,000 miles. Along the way they prayed and showed their opposition to abortion. They arrived on opening day and immediately began making friends.
Organizers believe World Youth Day offers a key opportunity to bolster a unified Catholic identity.
REE LATHAM: I look around and I see Catholics and they're here because they're Catholics and they're here because they want to be Catholics and they want to be better Catholics. It's just really exciting.LAWTON: There was a festival atmosphere, but organizers also built in serious religious components. There were daily teaching sessions -- Catechesis classes led by bishops and cardinals.
Cardinal FRANCIS GEORGE (Archdiocese of Chicago): This is an encounter with the Lord, and they have to be taught who the Lord is. So the catechesis does that, and then out of that, generosity is touched and they do service works. So it's prayer, Catechesis, service.
LAWTON: There was also daily Mass. And at a nearby park, a thousand priests were commissioned to hear confessions, 200 at a time, in numerous languages. Some experts believe the emphasis on such traditions of the faith has great appeal for the under-25 generation. Colleen Carroll spent a year studying the spirituality of young people.
COLLEEN CARROLL (Author, "The New Faithful"): The very things their parents saw as oppressive, young adults see as exciting, even exotic.LAWTON: She admits the participants here may not be typical of their generation, but she's one of several experts who see a growing trend toward a more traditional practice of Christianity.
Father THOMAS ROSICA (Director, Pope World Youth Day): Especially now, with his infirmity, they see in him strength. They see in him a friend. They find in him a vision and a courage. They find in him a reason to believe.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: A lot of people will come up and berate you because of what's going on, and it's really hard to say, you know, the Church is still strong, that's not what's representing it. And you're not seeing the true Church. I was just wondering how we're supposed to handle people like that. 
Bishop GREGORY: Well, we have 55,000 young people from the United States here and the image and the message that sends is that we have a very strong, vibrant Catholic youth. That the next generation is strong in its faith and wants to get stronger.
LAWTON: Church leaders say they are optimistic this World Youth Day will indeed lay a strong spiritual foundation for young people who will be guiding the global Catholic Church into the future.
