Pope speaks to 'Catholic Woodstock'

Young pilgrims greet Pope John Paul II in Toronto Thursday

TORONTO, Canada (CNN) -- Thousands of pilgrims attending World Youth Day Thursday exultantly greeted Pope John Paul II, who told the flock to be peacemakers in the face of terrorist threats.

"Last year, we saw with dramatic clarity the tragic face of human malice," he said of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. "We saw what happens when hatred, sin and death take command. But today, Jesus' voice resounds in the midst of our gathering. His voice is a voice of life, of hope, of forgiveness."

The pope said he has "been eagerly looking forward" to speaking to the young people.

The 82-year-old pontiff, frail but alert on the 97th trip of his papacy, waved to the faithful from the "popemobile," which headed slowly to Exhibition Place on Lake Ontario for the papal welcoming ceremony at the annual event, regarded as kind of a "Catholic Woodstock."

An estimated 200,000 people have gathered in Canada's largest city for the event, held every year since 1986, and thousands in the well-behaved crowd stood and waved at the well-traveled leader of the world's Roman Catholics.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO In the wake of scandal in the church, thousands of young Catholics have traveled to Toronto to celebrate and renew their faith. CNN's Jim Bittermann reports (July 25) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION Gallery: World Youth Day  Gallery: The pope's visit to Canada  • Click here to follow the pope's journey in the Americas.   MORE STORIES The remote island where the pope is resting

Snapping photos of the pontiff and applauding, young people ran to follow his vehicle and waved the flags of their country. Later, they gathered to hear him talk, some holding crosses aloft as they took in every word.

Transported to a dais by a special elevator, the pope said: "I have been eagerly looking forward to this meeting, especially when day after day from all parts of the world I have received in the Vatican good news about all the initiatives that have marked your journey here.

"And often, even without having met you, I commend you one by one in my prayers to the Lord."

The pope arrived in Canada Tuesday on the first day of an 11-day trip. He later will travel to Guatemala and Mexico.

Before he left, he urged the young people of Canada and America to look to Christ.

"With your gaze set firmly on him, you will discover the path of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world often laid waste by violence and terror," the pope said.

The pope made a slight error by departing from his speech and mistakenly saying in English that the last World Youth Day was held in Krakow, Poland. The last World Youth Day was in Rome in 2000. A Vatican spokesman said it was a slip.

World Youth Day in 2001 was held on varying dates at individual dioceses all over the world.

After the ceremony, the pontiff headed to Strawberry Island, the retreat where he is staying north of Toronto. Friday he will meet at the island with a group of 14 children from Canada, Germany, the United States, China, India, Sudan, Kenya, Peru, Jordan, Australia, Tahiti and Bosnia.

The pope will also gather with youths in Toronto Saturday night for a vigil and Sunday for Mass.

John Paul has been in frail health, slowed by Parkinson's disease and arthritis, but decided to walk down the steps of his plane when he arrived in Canada.