Rome event deepened local youths' faith

Meghan Meyers, a 15-year-old parishioner of Our Lady of Fatima in Delanson, was part of the delegation from Immaculate Conception in Hoosick Falls, led by her uncle Rev. Philip Cioppa.

"The trip went far over my expectations," Meghan said. "Seeing all of those people in one area who were Catholic, I saw that I was part of something big."

Will Daley, a 19-year-old from St. Catherine of Siena parish in Albany, had similar sentiments: "It was an incredible experience to be a part of. It was great to be there and see the future of the Catholic Church."

Global sense

"The people I was talking with said they weren't really religious, but being there they saw they were a part of something big," he said, referring to young people from Spain, Poland, France, Finland and several South American countries.

Ben Bushey, a 14-year-old member of Immaculate Conception, wasn't expecting such a crowd. "I didn't expect it to be such a big event," he said. "It was incredible, a great experience. It made me realize how big the Church really is."

Numbers

"On our first day, we went to St. Peter's Square," he said. "That was an emotional experience. There were 160,000 young Catholics. To see the whole circle full was great. At school, not everyone is the same, but everyone was Catholic there."

The vigil Mass attended by 2.5 million young people left Shawn "speechless" he said.

One of the highlights for him was seeing Pope John Paul II. During the opening ceremony, the delegation from St. Ambrose was right up against railings that separated the youth from the Pope. "We were seven feet away from him," Shawn said.

Faith experience

"My spirituality, my relationship with God has gone up ten-fold," he said. "I focused on Christ's suffering and the suffering of the martyrs. I gained a greater appreciation for what people went through so that I could have my faith. I'm totally more at peace. I'm floating on a cloud."

Shawn had many opportunities to meditate on suffering: Temperatures in Rome averaged 98 degrees, which made walking difficult. He noted that the subways, metro and buses were all extremely hot. Despite that, Shawn wasn't fazed.

"Anything that went wrong didn't bother me," he said. "Nothing held me back."

Hot time

Crystal Vossler, a 16-year-old from St. Bridget's Church in Copake Falls, said the heat was challenging. "We did a lot of walking," she said. "We carried water bottles and took a lot of breaks."

The youth were supposed to walk several miles for a vigil service and then camp out at the site where the festivities would close the following day with an early morning Mass. But those from Copake Falls ran into trouble.

"We spent seven and a half hours walking, and we couldn't get to our site," Crystal said.

Gate keepers wouldn't let the group in, saying the gates were closed. Eventually, they gave up and walked back. They watched the vigil on the television.

Holding back

Instead of participating in the outdoor vigil, the group from St. Catherine's took part in a parallel vigil hosted by the Archdiocese of New York in a Roman hotel. Large screen TVs allowed the youth to see what was happening at the site as priests led the service at the hotel.

While the young people from St. Catherine's didn't participate in all of the organized events, they did have other experiences. Will explained that Rev. Kenneth Doyle, pastor of St. Catherine's, took the group to places off the beaten path. (He lived in Rome for several years when he worked for Catholic News Service.) The group also went to Siena, where they saw St. Catherine's home, the places she prayed and her relics.

Adjusting

"The heat was a big challenge," she said. "People were dropping."

Instead of camping out, the group walked to the campsite for the closing Mass in the predawn hours when it was cooler. "We walked six miles at 4 a.m.," she said.

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