World Youth Day focus will be older next time

* A group of young adults between the ages of 18 and 35, and

* A group of youths ages 16 and 17, who will attend the vigil and closing Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II.

Groups from the Diocese wh attended previous World Youth Days were made up only of teenagers. This will be the first time a delegation of young adults will be sent.

Who's a youth?

In a statement on WYD, the USCCB writes that it "has always been intended for young adult-aged pilgrims, but there have been a few challenges in this understanding. The first is the term 'youth,'...[which] usually refers to junior high and high school students. However, in most other languages (and in English-speaking counties in Europe), the term refers to young adults. It is understood that this has been confusing in the United States.

"The second challenge began when the U.S.A. hosted World Youth Day 1993 in Denver. Many younger pilgrims were invited; and since then, it has been difficult, to re-claim this experience for young adults. The entire program of World Youth Day 2002 will be focused on young adults, but young people from 16 to 35 are invited to participate."

Event-ful

Young adults from 150 countries are expected to attend the event, which is scheduled for July 23 through July 28.

According to Mary Harrison, associate director for youth ministry of the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, the Diocese's plans for sending youth and young adults will be finalized within the next month. At that time, information will be sent out to parishes.

Buses to Toronto

The group will sleep under the stars with 500,000 other pilgrims. During the evening, there will be concerts, prayer services and faith testimonials. The following morning, they will participate in the Mass and then return to the Albany Diocese.

This will be the 17th World Youth Day. Past events were held in such places as Argentina, Spain, Poland, France and, in 2000 for the Jubilee Year, Rome.

(For information on World Youth Day, visit www.wyd2002.org.)

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