Youth Day organizers say they don't want to remove 'Pope's Hill'

Published: 2006-02-01

COLOGNE, Germany (CNS) -- World Youth Day organizers are backing off a commitment to remove the artificial mound where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass at World Youth Day, saying they would like the site to become a memorial. However, an environmental organization wants the 30-foot-high "Pope's Hill" removed and said use of the land for large events would disrupt its use "for quiet recreation on a natural site." The artificial mound, built with dirt from different countries, was where Pope Benedict celebrated the concluding Mass for a million World Youth Day pilgrims last August in Cologne. The Mass site is located on the Marienfeld, a former open-cast mining area situated in the Kottenforst-Ville Natural Park, west of Cologne. The site adjoins several nature preserves and landscape protection areas. World Youth Day officials had to apply to the appropriate planning commission authorities to obtain permission to use the site. One of the conditions under which they were granted permission was that the mound be removed after the event.

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