MADRID (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI has said modern society is suffering "amnesia" about God as he traveled to Spain's famed El Escorial monastery on the second day of his visit for the church's world youth festival.

Several hundred young nuns cheered, waved flags and performed the "wave" as they waited Friday for Benedict inside a courtyard of the 16th-century complex, a UNESCO world heritage site about 30 miles northwest of the capital.

Benedict told them that their decision to dedicate their lives to Christ was a potent message in today's increasingly secular world.

Benedict's main priority as pope has been to try to reawaken Christianity in places like Spain, a once staunchly Catholic country that has drifted from its pious roots.