World Youth Day

'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.' Acts 1:8
WYD 2008 Theme
 

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St. Joseph High School goes to Sydney, Australia!
 

 

In July, a group of Saint Joseph High School students, accompanied by Ms. Molly Dennis, Mrs. Roseanne Nickoloff, Mr. Paul Herbert, Deacon Jeff Norfolk and Ms. Kate Barkowski ‘02, joined over 500,000 young Catholics from around the world at the World Youth Day Celebration in Sydney Australia.  This week-long event offers Catholic youth the opportunity to gather together and celebrate their cultural diversity and their unity in faith.  The pilgrims included Clare Barkowski ’09, Michael Barkowski ’08, Colleen Fisher ’09, Kimberly Fisher ’11, Natalie Garda ’08, Laura Herbert, Jim Kisiel ’09, Garrett Kuruc ’08, Emily Maeder ’09, Brandy Nickoloff ’11, Nicole Nickoloff ’09, Hannah Olinger ’10, Alison Pavilonis ’08, Mallory Pavilonis ’10, Caitlin Pepka ’07, Dan Pepka ’09, Erik Roming ’11, Megan Smith ’08, and George Will ’09.

 

                The week began (after a twenty two hour flight!) with mass presided over by Cardinal Pell of the Archdiocese of Sydney and a tour of Saint Mary’s Cathedral.  The students were able to experience Sydney, taking a ferry ride through the Sydney Harbor, visiting the Taronga Zoo, visiting Manly Beach, a surfer paradise, and spending an evening at the Sydney Opera House for the youth festival.  There were Catholics from many other countries, and the students were able to meet and mingle with people of very different cultures.

 

Of course, the focus of the week for the pilgrims was celebrating and growing in their Catholic faith.  The students were able to attend catechesis with the Bishop of Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as catechesis with Cardinal McCarrick from Washington D.C.  They also participated in adoration with musician Matt Maher, who performed the Divine Praises and Tantum Ergo as rock songs. Some students attended the Stations of the Cross, which traveled throughout the city, and a holy hour with Bishop Zubik and other pilgrims from the diocese of Pittsburgh.  The high point of the week was the overnight vigil and closing mass with Pope Benedict XVI.  Two SJHS students, Claire Barkowski and Caitlin Pepka, even managed to get very close to the Popemobile, earning a smile, wave, and blessing from the Pope!

 

The trip was a wonderful success, giving the students a chance to experience unity with their fellow Catholics from around the world, to grow in their faith, and to have a lot of fun doing it!  The group is looking forward to attending World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain.

 

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge image

Kim, Brandy and Nicole	Mallory and Nicole excited to be in Sydney!	Dan, Nicole and Natalie keeping warm in the Australian winter with survival blankets	Brandy with the zebras at Taronga Zoo
The beautiful Sydney Harbor	Maximus the Spartan with the Giant Koala	Brandy and Kim with the Australian Koala!	Kim, Hannah and Natalie on the Sky Tram
The Sydney Harbor Bridge	Garrett, Natalie, Brandy and new friends!	Celebrating the Pope's arrival with over 160 countries!	Nicole, Brandy, Kim, Colleen and Hannah with a new friend from Africa
A view of Randwick Racetrack and the 500,000 pilgrims	Cardinal Pell at the Opening Mass	Laura, Megan, Alison and Mallory with new jackets from South Africa	Ms. Dennis, Natalie and Hannah
Alison, Caitlin, Dan and Clare on the way to the opening Mass	The Sydney Opera House	A giraffe looking over the Sydney Harbor	Mama and Baby Koala!
Pope Benedict XVI!	The beautiful Sydney Harbor and Sydney Opera House	A Kangaroo!	Wallabee and baby Joey
Garrett, Caitlin, Natalie and Clare waiting for the Pope to arrive	Pope Benedict blessed and waved to Caitlin and Clare!	Clare and Bishop Zubik	Dan, George and Michael in a triple piggy-back
World Youth Day!	All the boys...	Mass in the airport terminal with Bishop Zubik	Our group in front of the Taronga Zoo

 

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What is World Youth Day?

World Youth Day began in 1984 when hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world gathered in Rome for an International Jubilee of Youth in St. Peter's Square.  Pope John Paul II wanted to bring together young Catholics from around the globe to celebrate and learn about their faith on a more regular basis. 

World Youth Day became a defining characteristic of Pope John Paul's papacy, seen as a way to reach out to the next generation of Catholics, demonstrate confidence in them, rejuvenate the church and carry forth its teachings.

Every Palm Sunday, World Youth Day is celebrated across the globe on the Diocesan level and every two or three years, World Youth Day is celebrated on the international level.  In the past, World Youth Days have been held in
Rome, Italy; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Czestochowa, Poland; Denver, USA; Manila, Philippines; Paris, France; Toronto, Canada; and Cologne, Germany.  Hundreds of thousands to millions of youth from all around the world attend World Youth Days.  In fact, in Manila 6.5 million young people gathered together for World Youth Day, the largest group of people ever gathered in one place. 

World Youth Day is a week-long pilgrimage of faith with opportunities for catechesis and worship that culminate in an overnight vigil with the Pope.  In addition to the spiritual pilgrimage, World Youth Day is also an opportunity to visit another country and experience their customs and meet other youth from all around the world.

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Overnight vigil with Pope Benedict XVI at
2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany

Official World Youth Day 2008 Website

Vatican Website on WYD