In the Rockies, Papal Blessings, Spiritual Renewal and Blisters : Religion: Thousands of Catholics walk 14 miles to hear Pope John Paul II, who tells youth to serve others.

DENVER —  More than 250,000 Roman Catholics on a pilgrimage in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains marched 14 miles Saturday from Denver to a treeless expanse of prairie grasslands to renew their faith and meet Pope John Paul II.

It was a day of sacred liturgy in the Gothic Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and of an arduous walk to Cherry Creek State Park, climaxed by the Pope’s triumphant entry into the park at dusk to the strains of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

Many fell by the wayside en route to the all-night vigil, their bodies bowed by heat exhaustion, altitude sickness and blistered feet. More than 3,000 people were treated by paramedics, including a 61-year-old man from Aurora, Colo., who died of a heart attack.

But their spirits were unyielding.

Jennifer Jamme, a 17-year-old from a Dallas suburb, was sitting on the roadside resting her sore feet. “It’s worth it. My feet don’t think so, but I do. I’m here because I want to get closer to God, closer to the church.”

Among those who spoke before the Pope was a young man who suffered from Down’s syndrome and at one time could not walk. In a moving testimony, James Mulzet said that for years his father cared for him, despairing that he would never walk again. But through prayer and determination, he said, he did walk again.

“I would like to tell you all that I am totally independent,” Mulzet said. “I live in my own apartment in New York City and I go to work every morning. . . . Now my father is sick. He’s got diabetes, a heart condition and he’s not doing so good. But I manage out of everything that I do to get up and help take care of my father like he did to me.

“I even wrote a letter to the Pope in Rome to bless me and my father . . . and he did,” Mulzet said as the Pope smiled. “I would like to tell the Holy Father, ‘Holy Father, I love God.’ ”

It was all part of World Youth Day, a convocation that has officially drawn 186,000 Catholics from more than 70 countries--while leaving uncounted thousands of “unofficial” pilgrims.

About 500,000 people are expected to fill Cherry Creek park today for the first Mass of the four-day event that will be open to the general public--and the last one to be celebrated by John Paul.

From the start, World Youth Day has been a combination of foot stomping, gospel singing, rock music, devotions and pontifical Masses. Saturday was no exception.

At a morning Mass in the restored basilica, John Paul hammered home the World Youth Day theme of evangelization. He exhorted the delegates to take seriously the great commission of Christ to go into the world with the Gospel message.

“Your task will be to help your parishes, dioceses, associations and movements--to be truly open to the personal, social and spiritual needs of young people,” the pontiff said.

Throughout the international gathering, youths have been discussing the future of the Catholic church and their place in it.

One 15-year-old attending Saturday’s Mass, when asked what she would ask John Paul if given the chance, said: “How does he view the youth in our church five to 10 years from now? How are we going to change with the times?”

Many at the Mass wept openly as they received a personal blessing from the Pope.

A 17-year-old from Kazakhstan, Anna Islamovna Hakimova, knelt in a pew, tightly holding a rosary that the Pope had given her and sobbing uncontrollably. Others kissed the Pope and embraced him. He smiled, and at one point appeared to be brushing away a tear.

For every moment of solemnity Saturday there was an equal amount of laughter. Older Catholics and youths clad in T-shirts, shorts and running shoes set out from Denver’s Civic Center Plaza--renamed Celebration Plaza for the Pope’s visit--on their pilgrimage to Cherry Creek park.

“You got the whole world here. Why? Simple! The Pope and an unconditional, divine love,” said Larry Maher, 20, of Los Angeles as he munched on a hot dog and enjoyed the spectacle.

There were people wearing umbrella hats and reciting the rosary in Spanish, Italian and English as they walked. There were strolling musicians playing guitars and pounding on conga drums. There were people in wheelchairs and on crutches while others sprinted ahead.

But Saturday’s journey proved too much for many of the faithful. There were no water stations along the last four miles of the trek, many expected volunteer medics were no-shows and clouds dissipated as temperatures climbed.

Meanwhile, paramedics on bicycles and state park rangers in golf carts and all-terrain vehicles shook their heads at the people who failed to carry provisions and water, or were not in physical condition to make the long walk.

Cherry Creek Park Ranger Kathie de Russy noted that fewer paramedics than expected turned up Saturday and that organizers failed to provide water stations, medic stations or even portable toilets along the last hottest stretch of the route.

Edward Burns, 28, youth coordinator for the Diocese of Belize City, Belize, was carrying a flag of the diocese and his country as he entered the final four-mile stretch to the vigil site.

He said that he had started out after the morning Mass about six hours earlier, and explained that even though he was tired, it was important for the pilgrims to make the walk. It symbolized, he said, “the walk from Egypt to the Promised Land.”

Times special correspondent Kristina Lindgren and Denver bureau researcher Ann Rovin also contributed to this story.