Hundreds making final preparations for World Youth Day

She was speaking last week to hundreds of teens, religious education instructors, chaperons and parents who gathered at Blessed Sacrament Church in Albany for the first of three meetings to kick off their trek to Toronto at the end of July for World Youth Day 2002.

High school youth and their adult chaperons will travel by bus to participate in an overnight prayer vigil July 27 and Papal Mass July 28. An audience of 300,000 is expected to gather from all over the world for the events.

Pilgrims

Six buses will carry pilgrims to an area three, five or eight miles away from the park where the all-night vigil is scheduled to take place. Groups will then have to hike into the park.

According to the two-day schedule outlined at the meeting, about 250,000 people will arrive almost simultaneously for the overnight prayer vigil. The next day, another 50,000 people are expected to arrive for Mass with Pope John Paul II.

Excitement

"I've been trying to ride my bike every day for the past few weeks," she said. "It's going to be pretty exciting. When I first heard about it, I wasn't too interested in going, but then I began thinking about meeting people from all over the world, and I decided it might be fun.

"I am interested in learning what the Pope's views are on what's happening right now in the world."

Together

"I'll be going to college in the fall [at the University of New Hampshire], and I think this trip is a great opportunity for me to spend the weekend with my mom before I leave," Samantha said. "I'm pretty excited about it all."

She told The Evangelist that she was urged to go by Phil Wick, who started a youth ministry in her parish four years ago.

"I'm not big on crowds, so that was in my mind," she confessed. "I'm still a little nervous about that, but I really am looking forward to catching a glimpse of the Pope."

Anticipation

"I anticipate a lot of community and fellowship," he said, adding that he sees the pilgrimage as a good opportunity to develop his spirituality.

Sean plans on commiserating with other pilgrims by trading items, a pastime that has become popular among youth worldwide whenever they meet with the Pope.

"I plan on trading 'I Love NY' stuff with kids," he said. "It was real popular at the youth conference."

(07-18-02) [[In-content Ad]]