On Saturday morning, May 18, on his 82nd birthday, the Holy Father received members of the Lasallian Family in Paul VI Auditorium. There were more than 8,000 persons including Brothers, teachers, parents, former students, and many current, young students. Their enthusiasm greatly impacted the Pope and filled his heart with joy. He entrusted them, the new generation, with a "strongly positive plan for humankind in the third millennium." He invited them not to look at "the road already traveled," but to be witnesses of the present and to plan for the future.

The many students who were present felt called to accept the task that had been entrusted to them. The waving of the scarves and the enthusiastic applause in the auditorium were outward signs of authentic and close support for the Pontiff. In chorus, and with musical accompaniment, they sang "Happy Birthday." John Paul II thanked them for this display of affection: "Thank you, thank you very much for your good wishes," he said as he smiled. Then, in his talk, he underscored first and foremost the purpose of the meeting: the third centenary of the presence of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Italy. "Since 1702, when Brother Gabriel Drolin came from France," the Pope recalled, "the seed which he planted at the cost of heroic sacrifice has produced abundant fruit in the field of education." Finally, he entrusted all religious families to continue being "a providential resource for the good of young people."
(L'Osservatore Romano, 19 May 2002)