ROME – When it comes to the Christian life, too many seminaries teach students a rigid list of rules that make it difficult or impossible for them as priests to respond to the real-life situation of those who come to them seeking guidance, Pope Francis said.

If you did not feel empowered by Pope Francis' homily during the welcoming ceremonies at World Youth Day, then you weren't really listening. The Holy Father game a passioned speech about the hope that we carry for the Church as young people. 

There’s so much I could say about World Youth Day: I could probably write a short book about my experiences. There are so many themes I could pull from it, so many lessons I could draw out. But as I reflected, a hymn came to mind that tied together so many different threads it wouldn’t let go: “Jesus calls us here to meet him.”

KRAKÓW, POLAND – The most impressive moment of World Youth Day had to be at the Saturday evening vigil, with Pope Francis leading more than a million young people in praying the Divine Mercy chaplet before the Blessed Sacrament. Not only was it a powerful witness of prayer, invoking mercy upon the Church and the world, but a confirmation of the marvellous ways of Providence.

In the short two weeks I spent in Poland for WYD, I underwent a profound spiritual revival, one which I had been searching for over the last few years.

KRAKOW, POLAND – From the outside, a church can look cold and dark. The stained glass windows don’t reveal much of what’s inside. But when you walk in, the sunlight streams through the multi-coloured glass and the church comes alive.

Two weeks ago I left my home in Mission, BC, about an hour outside of Vancouver, and embarked on my pilgrimage to Kraków, Poland. There I would meet with two million other Catholics, Pope Francis and Christ Himself in the Eucharist. The prospect of seeing old friends at Kraków Airport and spending the next two weeks with them in a foreign country was enough to get me excited and yet there was something else that was calling me there. I was going to Poland, and I would spend two weeks in hard core prayer mode with the big guy asking Him all the big questions I needed answers to. Yes, I was finally going to get it all figured out. But no. That didn’t happen. Not even close.

VATICAN CITY – As World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow wrapped up, Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, the retired success to St. John Paul II as archbishop of the host city, died Aug. 2 at the age of 89.

KRAKOW, Poland – Pope Francis thanked World Youth Day organizers and volunteers and urged them to be "the hope of the future."

KRAKOW Poland – Cosmos Nandi-Esom said he is a politician back home in Nigeria.

KRAKOW, Poland – At least for a few minutes at World Youth Day, the physical barriers between Palestinian and Israeli communities were nonexistent.

KRAKOW, Poland – Take risks and do not let life's obstacles get in the way of encountering the true joy and life that Jesus can give, Pope Francis told more than 1 million young people.

KRAKOW, Poland – Humankind's cruelty did not end with the Holocaust, but rages on in the suffering of those living through war, homelessness and persecution, Pope Francis said.

On Saturday morning, at the Sanctuary of St John Paul II in Krakow, Pope Francis offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for priests, religious men and women, consecrated persons, and seminarians.

KRAKOW, Poland – Catholic priests and nuns must renounce their personal interests and create a church that "goes into the world" with "living writers of the Gospel," Pope Francis said.