Pope John Paul II called young Catholics around the world on Sunday to visit the Canadian city of Toronto next year to celebrate World Youth Day.
In a Palm Sunday address before thousands of worshippers in St. Peter's square he said: "I encourage you to prepare well for the next important appointment of World Youth Day which has as its theme 'you are the salt of the earth ... you are the light of the world."
"Dear young people, get ready to welcome the young people of the world to your beautiful country by renewing your own fidelity to Christ the Lord ... until we meet in Toronto."
The call was a new sign that the ailing Pope, into his 80s, has no intention of stepping down. He told a group of young people from Rome on Friday "I am not planning to stop."
Despite his ill health he maintains a tough and sometimes politically sensitive schedule. He is due to visit Greece, Syria and Malta in May and the Ukraine in June.
World Youth Day is held once every two years in a designated city around the world.
In previous years it has been held in Buenos Aires, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Czestochowa in Poland, Denver in the United States, Manila, Paris and Rome -- VATICAN CITY (AFP)
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