Pope John Paul II offered his reflections on his recent trip to Spain during his general audience with several thousand pilgrims who gathered in St. Peter's Square on May 7.

The Holy Father said the two most memorable highlights of his trip were his meeting with 700,000 young people and the canonization of five saints that drew a crowd of 1 million people.

During his meeting with the youth, he encouraged them to cultivate an inner spiritual life as an antidote to the lure of consumerism. He said he was happy to see the youth are increasingly promoting the New Evangelization among their peers. He said the five saints he canonized are an inspiration for people from all walks of life to remain faithful to the Gospel.

John Paul encouraged Spaniards to remain faithful to the everlasting values of its spiritual tradition while making its contribution to building a new Europe. “This fifth apostolic trip to Spain confirmed within me a deep conviction: The old nations of Europe retain a Christian soul that constitutes a single entity with the ‘genius’ and the history of its respective peoples,” the Holy Father noted.