Today World Youth Day Rio2013 features in the webpage of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
World Youth Day is the first one of three mega events offered by Rio de Janeiro – ahead of the football World Cup and the Olympics. It will also be the first foreign trip taken by Pope Francis. Millions of people are expected to attend.
For more information please click in the link below.
The Catholic Church in England and Wales features World Youth Day Rio2013
When I first heard about the resignation of Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI I was half awake after having a lie in on my day off university. My flatmate had been ringing me all morning, which I presumed was just to wake me up. Next thing I get a text message saying ‘The Pope has quit his job’ and as you can imagine I was immediately awake but suspicious that it was a ploy to get me out of bed; I soon found that this wasn’t the case. Of course my initial reaction was along the lines of ‘Can he do that?’ and moreover questioning why he had done it and what it meant. But then I thought about it some more. I soon came to the conclusion that the last two Popes had taught us two very good and important lessons. The first had taught us that it is fine to be seen to struggle in the face of adversity, it’s fine to carry on in the face of trouble. The other taught us that it is also okay to let go and let somebody else carry on with what you feel you are no longer capable of doing. Two great men who have taught us all lessons which we can all interpret in our own ways depending on our lives.
Once I had heard the news I was immediately looking at flying over to Rome and being in Rome for when the next Pope would be elected and as soon as the dates for conclave were announced I booked my flights to Rome. I had booked the earliest available flights which were Thursday and as I now know this was a day too late to be there for the announcement however I still am ready now, 4 hours before I am set to travel to the airport to go and experience the now electric atmosphere I will be greeted by in Rome.
Looking however at the man who has been elected to be our new Holy Father I can safely say I am full of every bit of confidence that he will lead the church in the direction of God’s will. His entrance onto the balcony said to me something about himself, clearly still in some state of shock about what had happened over the past 24 hours he gracefully walked onto the balcony ready to greet the world. A few waves and several moments of taking in the spectacle in front of him; his words perfectly saying what the church had been longing to hear since Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI had stepped down. The thing that struck me the most was his beautiful understanding of humility; hearing the words “first I ask a favour of you: before [I bless you], I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me” A man who has been chosen by God, given a powerful role, still asking for help, WOW!. These words really struck me deep in my heart and I am filled with so much admiration for him even though I have only really known of him for a few short hours.
After debating with myself for a few moments I concluded that he had named himself after St Francis of Assisi, he couldn’t not have chosen St Francis of Assisi given the lifestyle he has chosen to live in the past and also through the message that he has given us. I am elated that he chose the name ‘Francis’ for a number of reasons, firstly because I come from the parish of Sacred Heart and St Francis. Secondly knowing who St Francis was it gives me a true reflection of the message I anticipate him to spread throughout his papacy. St Francis was a man who had everything and lived what we would call nowadays the ‘playboy’ lifestyle and yet everything that he had, didn’t give him the satisfaction that he needed. There was a God shaped hole in his life and none of the money, fine clothes, partying and promiscuity could fill that. When St Francis turned to God he gave every part of himself to God and lived from then on a life of humility and complete devotion. I notice that a lot of the youth culture nowadays is centred around the same ideology that St Francis used to have and it is there for the same reason. Perhaps Pope Francis wants us to realise this and that the only way we can fill that God shaped hole is by turning ourselves towards God. We don’t have to give up every part of our previous life and replace everything with God but rather include him in what we say, do and think. If this is the message that Pope Francis is going to bring about then I think it is the perfect message and I couldn’t think of anything better.
OUR OWN BRITISH BAND, OOBERFUSE SINGING THE OFFICIAL WORLD YOUTH DAY SONG IN ENGLISH. GREAT FOOTAGE FROM LONDON AND RIO DE JANEIRO.
Where would I be without World Youth Day? I’m not sure I want to go too far down that road. But I think I can say without doubt that my first World Youth Day in Rome in 2000 was the start of something in my life: fanning into flame a faith that had lain smouldering (but not extinguished) through my adolescence.
Rome 2000 allowed me to see what a truly Catholic faith was all about. It was about seeing the millions of young people from all around the world, each with their own language and culture gathering together in one city and for one purpose. I returned home invigorated.
It was not long after that I applied to go to Seminary and through my journey to Priesthood World Youth Days played a big part in my discernment.
And now I get to lead a Pilgrimage! And not just any Pilgrimage, but a Pilgrim journey to Rio!!
As the Director of Youth Ministry for the Archdiocese of Liverpool I will have the great privilege of taking 30 young people from all corners of the Diocese to Rio this year.
We started our preparation meetings in October last year and will continue to have regular meetings until the July departure date. In these meetings we hope to explore the great gifts WYD can bring to us – seeing the visible expression of a shared Catholic faith, experiencing a different culture, engaging in the Missionary Week, attending catechesis sessions led by different Bishops of the world, and of course being able to participate in the WYD Vigil and Mass celebrated by the Holy Father.
We will also work in smaller groups based more on local geography to discuss what we hope WYD will mean for us and how we hope to bring the WYD spirit back to our own parishes and pastoral areas.
We decided to start our preparation meetings in October as in late September myself and a fellow priest from Liverpool, Fr Colin Fealey, went to Rio for a pre- pilgrimage trip (travelling via Atlanta, Orlando and Panama – quite the trip!). Whilst in Rio we met the reps from the tour company we will be using and also met the leaders of the Birmingham contingent.
It was a great few days and really whetted the appetite for what is sure to be a fantastic expression of faith in July.
We found Rio to be a very relaxed and easy going city. Of course, the sights are spectacular. Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain, the Copacabana. Strolling along the Copacabana in a morning drinking coconut milk takes some beating. Even the one hour homily at the cathedral at Sunday mass did not take the shine off those few days!
We returned full of enthusiasm for a great city and a fantastic people. To imagine upward of two million people crowding onto the Copacabana to welcome the Pope to Rio is an amazing thought. Yet in less than six months that is what we will be doing.
If you are going to Rio this year you are lucky. It truly will be a once in a lifetime affair.
If you are still thinking about it – stop thinking! You may never get the chance again.
I started by thinking about the role WYD has played in my life. I end by thinking what role it continues to play.
But more importantly I pray that this WYD in Rio will be for those who attend a grace filled pilgrimage: that they will grow in their relationship with God and so be prepared to follow His call.
Fr Simon Gore
Director of Youth Ministry, Archdiocese of Liverpool
The most precious World Youth Day symbols, the Cross and the Icon of Our Lady have now officially arrived in Brazil.
Last Sunday 18th September, whilst we Brits celebrated the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the UK, Brazil was unveiling a huge party.
An open air mass with more than 100,000 young people welcomed the Icons in Campo de Marte located north of Sao Paulo and it was celebrated by its archbishop, Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer who said ‘The church has faith in the young people, who have a generous heart and a desire to build a better world for the next generations’.
The reception of the Icons on Sunday can be better described as a dry run for WYD. It not only ran for 12 hours (9am-9pm) but also included an area for confessions, chapel for adoration, videos about the history of WYDs including Madrid, testimonies and many musical presentations.
If you want to see a video of the procession of the cross and the excitement of the young Brazilians click here watch?v=WVClJXFGrXE&feature=player_embedded
The WYD Icons will be touring most of Brazil from now until December 2012, when they leave the country to visit Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. They then return to the south of Brazil and finally arrive back in April 2013 in Rio de Janeiro.
The theme for the next World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro is “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). Whilst next year’s theme for World Youth Day, to be celebrated by local Churches is “Always be joyful in the Lord!” (Phil 4:4).
Finally, take a look at this video where people are singing and venerating the cross, Brazilian style:watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SBuvZqaqpHg
Enjoy!
Paula
Last Saturday and Sunday Nicole and I stood up in our parish church to share our experiences in World Youth Day. We also put up a board with pictures which you can see in the slide show. We invited all to attend next WYD Rio 2013 aswell as the Flame concert in Wembley in March 2012. We hope this post will inspire others to do the same!
and this is what Nicole said:
Helooo, I just wanted to share with my experiences from World Youth Day.
I’ll be honest, before I went to WYD I didn’t really know what to expect. I had many expectations of what it would be like, for example, I knew I would get the chance to meet many new people from across the globe but I never expected to make such close bonds with them and to get to know them as well as I have. At first, I thought WYD would just be about going to 20 different masses a day and having to listen to priest after priest, but it turned out to be so much more. Instead, we had the chance to visit different parishes and share mass with them, and attend masses in football stadiums full of thousands of young people. One of the main events I enjoyed was the catechesis as they were the most inspiring. We got to listen to American nuns and hear religious stories that not only showed the depth of our religion but the power.
One story I remember well was about a lady who was staying in a convent with nuns. She had just had a child and was leaving the hospital in an elevator when she saw another woman crying. She asked the woman what was wrong and she explained that she’d just found out she was pregnant and how she wasn’t ready for children. The lady then said ‘having children is one of the most beautiful things in life and you will regret aborting it. This time next year I’ll see you here, you will have had a baby girl and you will have called her Mary Rose after me.’ The lady then left her. The following year when the lady was in the hospital she met the same woman in the elevator. She had had twins, two girls, one named Mary, one named Rose; she was overwhelmed with gratitude to the lady who had convinced her to keep her child. This story really moved me and I could tell from the atmosphere in the stadium that it had had the same effect on us all ; it’s amazing to see how one lady’s words can have changed another person’s life so much.
In the first week we had Days in the Dioceses, where we stayed in San-Sebastian, this was essentially the warm up for Madrid. Here we attended prayer vigils in cathedrals; we visited the birth place of St. Ignatius of Loyola and celebrated our religion through festivals with people from all over the world. The festivals in particular were breath taking; every country went on stage and performed their culture through song and dance. It was so inspiring as you could see how different all the cultures were, yet they were still able to unite through faith.
The second week we travelled to Madrid where we were welcomed with an open air mass with all the participating countries, there were people there from countries such as Australia, new Zealand and even china. I can’t even put into words how incredible the atmosphere was there; wherever you went there were floods of pilgrims in the streets all eager to meet and get to know you, even those from countries who struggled with our language; everyone was so friendly, it was actually amazing.
However, I would have to say the best part of World Youth Day had to be the mass with Pope Benedict, its estimated that 1.5 million pilgrims turned up at the airfield for the mass, it was so full that they had to start turning groups away! After hours of walking to get there, in temperatures around 40 degrees, pilgrims were still sociable and the atmosphere was still buzzing- despite the torrential thunderstorm we experienced during the welcoming papal mass. Maybe it was God’s way of trying to join in?!
Anyways I could go on all day telling you about World Youth Day, all I can say is it was a fantastic experience and if any of you are considering attending world youth day in Rio de Janeiro, 2013 I would encourage you to do so, to truly appreciate how good it is you have to go and experience it yourself.
If anyone wants to know anything else about Madrid then we are more than happy to tell you all about it, so feel free to come and talk to us
Finally I would like to thank you all once more for your generosity in making this experience possible for us.
and this is what Paula said:
Thank you Nicole. Instead of going through my pilgrim experience now, there is a print out that I will be handing after mass which Fr Giles has named World Youth Day ‘Report’.
Now, I would like to tell you about two upcoming events, which I think will be important for the young people of the parish to attend.
The first event is called Flame, and will be similar to the Hyde Park Vigil that we had when Pope Benedict visited the UK last year, to include great Catholic ministry such as national and international speakers, music and dancing as well as time for worship and prayer.
This will happen at Wembley Arena on Saturday 24th March 2012, and it will be a great opportunity for us all to experience the Church in a national context. Furthermore, if you are thinking about going to a WYD this is a great way to get a bit of the flavor of what it would be like to attend one.
So everyone who is in Year 10 and above is invited, but I would especially make a call for anyone who is between 18-40, as I will personally lead a group to the event but will need extra young leaders to help out with the journey to and from London.
For more information, there are posters around the church or you can visit the website. There will be also a list at the back of church so you can put your name down. Any questions pls feel free to ask me.
The second event is, of course, the next World Youth Day, which was announced at the final mass in Madrid and will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in July 2013. The theme has already been announced: Go out and make disciples (Mt 28:19).
WYD Madrid was one the the best weeks of my life and I promise you that I am not exaggerating. There were so many incredible experiences that if I had to tell you, I would not know where to begin.
However, if I had to say one thing, I would say that WYD is still – and I say still because I am still going through it in my head and in my heart – a hugely important experience which has strengthened my faith and has re-affirmed that the Catholic Church is alive, active and that it is indeed all of us. For this I am very happy that I attended and I feel very proud to be a catholic.
So following the huge success and amazing experience that was Madrid, I can’t help but invite all of you aged 16 or over to come to Rio.
And please let me tell you that age is not an obstacle. As you can see from the photos at the back, in our group we had a varied range of ages from 16 to 60, we had families, siblings, newly married couples, seminarians, older and younger priests, everything, WYD is really an inclusive event.
If you are interested do come and talk to me or Nicole for more details.
Once again, thank you all for all your support and for listening.
