In my view, the humanity of our world can be measured against the fate of Africa.

Germany's fate is decided first and foremost in Europe. Reconciliation and cooperation in Europe have brought us freedom, peace and prosperity. Who would have dared to believe so much 50 years ago?

Twenty-five years ago, the world looked to the Gdansk Shipyard where Poles struggled for their rights and freedoms,

This World Youth Day shows that Catholics are not a minority but come from all around the world,

[IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler and other senior officials provided similar visions -- a world free of debt, poverty, hunger and disease, while full of economic partnership.] I am aware of the critical debate about globalization, and many questions have to be of concern to all of us, ... But I also want to be clear: if the IMF did not exist already, this would be the time to invent it.

After a Polish Pope, whose country was first to be invaded by the Germans in World War Two, we now have someone from the generation drafted at the close of the war.