Canadian World Youth Day evaluations released
Lack of Holy Communion, the availability of water and a failed media structure were only some of the problems faced by Canadians at World Youth Day in Madrid, an evaluation from nearly 6,000 young Canadians, 24 bishops and more than 100 priests, deacons and religious found.
“So it was fraught with logistical difficulties, some of which are linked to the fact of any large event, but some clearly to a lack of preparation and foresight,” said Fr. Thomas Rosica, who at the request of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops spearheaded the formal evaluation of the Spanish event in 2011.
With World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro getting closer, youth are feeling pressure to raise money to make the trip. That’s prompting cash-strapped young people to develop creative fundraising ideas to help meet their goals.
Christine Lumilian, a youth minister at St. Maria Goretti parish in Toronto, has seen positive results from her group’s fundraising efforts in previous years.
“We fundraised for Germany (2005) and we got six people to go for free,” Lumilian said.
VATICAN CITY - On the seventh anniversary of the death of Blessed John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI paid homage to one of his predecessor's innovations: World Youth Day.
Greeting an estimated 5,000 cheering young people from Spain April 2, Pope Benedict said they were "the protagonists and principal recipients of this pastoral initiative promoted vigorously by my beloved predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, whose passage to heaven we remember today."
Pope's WYD 2012 message urges young people to find joy in Christ, not prestige or power
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI called on young people to not pursue power, money and prestige, but to find true joy in Christ and live a life of generous service to others.
In his message for World Youth Day 2012, he told the world's young Catholics to start making the world a better, more just and humane place right now, even while they continue to pursue their studies, talents and interests.
Do not be content in giving the minimum, he said.
Pilgrims shocked at cost for WYD Rio 2013
Amanda Foster, 21, wants to go to World Youth Day Rio in 2013. But after hearing the cost estimates for the trip, she’s reconsidering.
“I can’t believe the prices are so high,” said Foster, who was a part of the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Catholic Youth (OCY) trip to Madrid last August, organized through Tour Design.