Travel to Spain for World Youth Day

As final preparations are made for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain, 21 pilgrims from the Diocese of Sioux City are making final plans of their own.

Andrea Jenson, assistant diocesan director of youth and young adult ministry, will accompany, Father Brent Lingle and eight seminarians along with high school and college students and four chaperones on a pilgrimage from Aug. 11-25.

“Any time that we can get away from home and experience our faith is an opportunity for growth,” said Jenson. “World Youth Day in particular is known for miraculous things happening as well as deep conversions taking place, strengthening of faith, finding of someone’s vocation and an opportunity to see how universal the Catholic Church is.”

This will be a repeat trip to World Youth Day (WYD) for 25 percent of the group, she noted.

“Whether they went when it was in Denver, Canada or Australia, they are going for a second time,” said Jenson. “I think that speaks volumes to what a wonderful experience it is, if they are willing to spend the money to go on the pilgrimage again.”

FALL RIVER — Over 60 persons including teens, young adults and adults from the Fall River Diocese will be traveling to Spain this month to participate in the international celebration of World Youth Day in Madrid from Aug. 16-21.

Held usually every three years in different countries, World Youth Day is an opportunity for youth and young adults from around the globe to unite to celebrate and share their faith through a common experience of pilgrimage, prayer and worship. The weeklong schedule of activities includes catechetical sessions, liturgies, concerts, cultural events, sight-seeing and a prayer vigil and closing Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

"It's the best experience of the universal Catholic Church that young adults can possibly have," said diocesan Youth and Young Adult Ministry Assistant Director Crystal-Lynn Medeiros who attended World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia. "There are no words to describe it; you just have to experience it."

She is heading to this year's World Youth Day as part of one local group that includes diocesan Faith Formation Director Claire McManus, two college-age parishioners and the faith formation director from Sacred Heart Parish in Fall River and two parishioners from St. Mary Parish in Mansfield. They will be joining a larger delegation from the Boston Archdiocese.

Other Fall River diocesan World Youth Day pilgrims will be traveling in two different groups.

Twenty-six young people, ages 14-24, from the St. Anthony Parish, New Bedford, Youth Group will be going accompanied by seven adult chaperones including their pastor, Father Roger J. Landry. Members of the youth group have been raising money since 2008 to cover the expense of the trip through bake and candy sales, pilgrimage walk-a-thons, parish breakfasts and other means.

There is also a contingent of 21 heading to Madrid from St. Patrick Parish in Wareham, including some members of that parish's youth group, the director of religious education, and parish parochial vicar Father Ron P. Floyd along with a few young persons from other parishes and three seminarians of the diocese.

First as a seminarian and then as their parish priest, Father Floyd has been working with the St. Patrick's Youth group for several years to plan and fund-raise for participation in World Youth Day 2011.

He described the majority of his group going to Madrid as preparing to enter college in September and believes that age to be right for the World Youth Day experience.

"World Youth Day is an intense time to think about what God is calling you to do, and college age is a great time to focus on that," he said.

At the conclusion of World Youth Day the group will travel to Fatima for a spiritual retreat and then to Lisbon.

Father Landry explained that both young and adult travelers from St. Anthony's have been preparing for their pilgrimage by studying the sites they'll see, the saints whose tombs they'll visit, and previous papal World Youth Day messages. Their expanded itinerary will begin in Lisbon and Fatima and continue on to several Christian shrines in other regions of Spain before their arrival in Madrid. Throughout their journey, youth group members will share their experiences and photos via their online blog at www.saintanthonyyouthgroup.blogspot.com.

"All of us are getting very excited and counting down the days," said Landry. "We've worked hard for three years. Now all the fundraising is over, and we've turned our focus not only to packing but to preparing ourselves spiritually for the graces God in his goodness has been planning from all eternity to give us during this pilgrimage. The theme of the World Youth Day is 'Planted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith,' and we're going conscious of the fact that Jesus wants to build us all up in faith, hope and love so that we can return better equipped to help him build up our parish and the Church."

As of mid-July almost a half million young persons were registered to attend World Youth Day with over 29,000 coming from the U.S.

Pope Benedict, who convened the gathering, will pray with and speak to youth at an evening vigil on Saturday, Aug. 20 and then preside over the closing "Mass of Sending" the next morning. These events will take place at the Cuatro Vientos, an air base large enough to accommodate the 1.2 million expected at the closing Mass. Most World Youth Day pilgrims will walk the approximate 5-mile distance to the air base on Saturday morning and remain there overnight for the Sunday Mass.