initiators”. Missionary activity Responding to secularization, the Neocatechumenal Way introduced a program called "families in mission" – families serving to establish the presence of the Catholic Church in countries where there is none (this is referred to as Implantatio Ecclesiae) or to strengthen the presence of Catholic communities in particularly difficult areas. On 12 January 2006, about 200 families met with Pope Benedict XVI, asking for a missionary mandate before beginning their mission to France, Belgium, Germany and China – bringing the number of families in mission to more than five-hundred. In March 2008 the Way met with nine cardinals and 160 European bishops at the Domus Galilaeae International Center on the Mount of Beatitudes in Galilee. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn said that during "the last 40 years Europe has said ‘no’ to its future three times: in 1968 when it rejected 'Humanae Vitae'; then, 20 years later, with the legalization of abortion; and today with homosexual marriages." He called the Neocatechumenal Way an "answer of the Holy Spirit to this situation." A joint declaration from the bishops said, "Here we have an important proposal, the proposal of the Neocatechumenal Way, which is to renew the life of the family." On 10 January 2009, Benedict XVI met with over 10,000 people for a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the Neocatechumenal Way in Rome. From this celebration several whole communities were sent on mission, along with itinerant catechists, mission families, and the Missio Ad Gentes (a newer form of mission that sends three to five families to a particular area at the request of the bishop). In March 2019, the Neochatecumenal Way acquired the property of a 5173-square-meter part of the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem, in which they planned to build up a new international center named Domus Jerusalem. The World Youth Days Approximately every three years, the World Youth Day has been organized by the Roman Catholic Church, during which the Pope summons youths from all over the world to a chosen city. The Way has been an active supporter of these. During the event, young members of the Neocatechumenal Way meet with Argüello for a "vocational call." In Sydney, for example, approximately 1,500 men answered the call for the priesthood and 850 young women stood up to show their willingness to enter the consecrated life, and in Bonn (2005) around 1,500 young men and another 900 young women