DENVER — Pope John Paul II closed World Youth Day '93 by celebrating the Feast of the Assumption with a Mass for an estimated 350,000 followers, who gathered yesterday morning in a rolling field at Cherry Creek State Park.
During his homily in the 3 1/2-hour ceremony, the Pope called on the young people of the Roman Catholic Church to combat "a culture of death" in the world and attacked what he called the denial of "the sacred character of human life."
The pontiff reiterated that theme last night, in a farewell address at Stapleton International Airport. Decrying abortion and euthanasia, he said: ''The culture of life means respect for nature and protection of God's work of creation. In a special way, it means respect for human life from the first moment of conception until its natural end."
Standing next to the Pope was Vice President Gore, who had held a surprise private visit with John Paul II at the airport before the speech.
The pontiff's day began early with the Mass for a throng of cheering, sleepy-eyed pilgrims. The Pope called the occasion a "great holy day" - the Assumption is a Catholic feast celebrating the Virgin Mary's ascent into heaven.
The celebratory nature was dampened, however, by thousands of people who had to seek medical treatment and the report of at least one death. Officials estimated that during a march and prayer vigil Saturday night and the Mass yesterday, between 18,000 and 20,000 people were treated for injuries, most related to the heat and lack of enough water.
At least 10 youths from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia were taken to hospitals yesterday for heat exhaustion and dehydration. All were expected to recover, and parents were being contacted, said the Rev. Charles Pfeffer, director of the archdiocesan Office for Youth and Young Adults.
Despite the many who had to seek medical attention, hundreds of thousands of Catholics were not deterred, and hung on every word spoken by the Pope during yesterday's Mass.
The pontiff, who had used World Youth Day to assert and reassert his church's stand against abortion, gently venerated Mary as "the mother of all of (Jesus') followers."
Without using the word abortion, the Pope suggested that laws supporting abortion rights left each individual without moral direction but rather only the "choice of this or that . . . as convenient or useful in a given set of cirmcustances."
The pontiff told his younger followers that "the outcome of the battle for life is already decided," and called on them to "enlighten the world."
He drew cheers when he told the crowd: "The pilgrimage must continue," and announced that the next World Youth Day celebration would be held in Manila in early 1995.
"In this way, our pilgrimage will take us to the vast and vital continent of Asia," said the Pope, who has emphasized Asian expansion of the church throughout his pontificate.
The Pope, who avoided granting audiences to other groups during his stay in Denver, met with a contingent of Vietnamese Catholics from around the world yesterday afternoon to show his concern for Catholics in that nation, which many Vietnamese Americans fled after the Vietnam War.
"To all of you I make this appeal: Do not forget the church in Vietnam," said the pontiff, who is still unwelcome in the communist nation but whose address was carried on radio there.
"Perhaps the greatest challenge of the present is to heal any ill-feeling or divisions which have grown up between citizens of the same country. Too much suffering has left profound wounds," he said, urging "mutual respect, forgiveness and unity of purpose."
John Paul II then made a pastoral visit to a Catholic home for children with emotional problems.
About 200,000 of the congregants at the morning Mass had passed a chilly, often restless night encamped in Cherry Creek Park. Most were teenagers and young adults who had attended the Saturday evening prayer vigil.
Still dozing in sleeping bags or under blankets, some were awakened minutes before the start of the Mass by the sound of beating chopper blades as the helicopter carrying the pontiff repeatedly circled the field.
Some participants said that they could see the Pope at the helicopter
window and that he was smiling, waving and occasionally blessing the crowd with the sign of the cross.
As the pontiff mounted a massive stage capped with a swooping canopy in the
papal colors, yellow and white, the crowd surged forward attempting to move closer to the man they call the Holy Father.
Security workers struggled to keep the crowd out of pathways so that medical crews, grappling with the high number of injuries, could move about.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Pat Sullivan estimated that there were between 10,000 and 12,000 people who need medical attention from the start of the
papal vigil at 7:15 p.m. Saturday until the close of the Mass yesterday around 1:30 p.m. Later, as the day wore on, officials boosted that estimate up to 18,000 to 20,000 for the two days. The injuries included thousands of cases of heat exhaustion, dehydration and hypothermia resulting from loss of body heat during an overnight campout at the Mass site.
By the close of the Mass yesterday, temperatures had reached only the mid- 80s, but fire officials said the closeness of the crowd made for higher body temperatures. Blowing dust was blamed for a spate of mild respiratory problems.
A 61-year-old Aurora, Colo., man suffered a fatal heart attack Saturday; his name was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The 10 injuries among the Philadelphia-area youth delayed the departure of a bus that was scheduled to take 160 of the archdiocese's 400 participants to Colorado Springs on the first leg of their three-day return trip. An additional 128 pilgrims are expected to fly home today. The balance are traveling in private vehicles.
Father Pfeffer of the archdiocese faulted Denver's thinner mountain atmosphere and hot, dry temperatures for the illnesses.
"The kids are snapping out of it pretty good, but when they first go down, it's very frightening," he said. "We just aren't used to this Colorado air."
An Aurora, Colo., fire official criticized World Youth Day organizers for failing to adequately prepare the pilgrims, citing the large numbers of young people who ate poorly, got little sleep, or pushed themselves to the limit by hiking the 14 miles from Denver to Cherry Creek.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, the event's chief spokeswoman, denied the accusation, saying every effort had been made to inform local church groups about how best to prepare for the pilgrimage.
"Over and over again, we gave them instructions about Colorado's weather, about having lots of drinking water, about what to wear, that alcohol increases problems," she said. "They say in advertising that you have to repeat something seven times before people get it. Well, we must have told them many more times than that."
Although sponsors had asked people to drink plenty of water, there were some during the Mass yesterday who were begging for water and couldn't get any. Full containers were given to those closest to the altar, but most did not make their way to the back, where vendors charged $2 for a pint bottle. Firefighters finally rigged up two hoses and sprayed parts of the crowd, according to the Associated Press.
Last night, long after the Mass was over, there were about 400 youths who had been taken to hospitals but had not connected with their sponsoring groups. The youths were being sent to an abandoned department store staffed by World Youth Day volunteers and physicians. The youths were staying there until sponsoring groups could be found.
The volunteers had made plans before the event to open the store if any emregencies arose.
Evelyn Thele, a volunteer, said they would keep the store open until all the youths were gone, and they were prepared to keep the youths overnight and bring in food.
Earlier in the week, Sister Frances Engler, a nun serving as a chaperone with the Philadelphia participants, was forced to return to home after she slipped in a shower and broke her arm.
Philadelphian Regina Durant, 29, was pegged to participate in a ceremonial ringing of a Liberty Bell replica Wednesday night. She made it through that occasion just fine. But she decided not to attend the vigil or the Assumption Mass after feeling ill Friday at a presentation of the Stations of the Cross in Mile High Stadium.
"They said if you're not feeling well, don't even try to go out, so I didn't," said Durant, of the Ogontz section.
