Excitement as pilgrims are blessed

Sydney
21 July 2002

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Excitement as pilgrims are blessed

By Marilyn Kerjean

Sydney archdiocese’s World Youth Day pilgrims were quiet at their official farewell Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, but their excitement was evident in chatter, hugs and kisses as soon as they spilled outside.

And tomorrow (July 22) they reach Toronto for the international festival – the event they have preparing for over the past several months.

There were only 12 apostles, said the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr George Pell, so slightly more than 300 young people from the Sydney archdiocese going to World Youth Day 2002 is not a bad turn-out.

In fact, he said at the farewell and commissioning Mass for the pilgrims, “the capacity to make something of a long-term contribution is considerable”.

Pilgrims placed a candle and a small bowl of salt within the sanctuary during the Mass to underscore the message of World Youth Day: “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13–14).

The pilgrims have taken Australian, indigenous and Papal flags with them, courtesy of John Murphy, Federal MP for Lowe, and Senators Brian Harradine and John Tierney.

This week about half of the Sydney group visited holy sites in Mexico and Canada en route to Toronto.

They left a large set of rosary beads, a gift made by the mother of one of the pilgrims, at the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

The others have spent four days in the parish of St Catherine, just outside Toronto, attending daily Mass and taking part in charitable and social justice activities.

The Australians will meet up in Toronto tomorrow.

Archbishop Pell blessed and commissioned the pilgrims in the cathedral attended by 700 friends, family and other supporters.

He reminded them that the Catholic Church is a universal Church that reaches across space and time although there is “immense variety” in the community around the world today.

The Church is universal, but “universal does not mean sameness”, he said.

“I hope and pray that for all those who go on this pilgrimage it will be a wonderful Catholic occasion.

“It will be a wonderful time and almost certainly it will be one of the great memories of your lifetime.”

He asked the pilgrims to pray that it would be an occasion to bring them “closer to Christ, closer to others and enable you to have something even more beautiful to offer the world around us”.

Marita Franklin, the co-ordinator of the World Youth Day pilgrims for the archdiocese, said it was delightful to see so many pilgrims accompanied by family and friends for a special occasion – the commissioning of pilgrims to represent their archdiocese and country.

The support of parents, family, friends, parishioners, parish priests and school principals was wonderful to see and it was a very fitting way to see the young pilgrims off, she said.

Nile Hufanga, 24, says she is looking forward to immersing herself in the spiritual aspects, but is also excited about travelling with friends and meeting people from so many different cultures of one faith in one place.

She is one of a group of five young people from the Tongan youth group at Holy Family Parish, Mt Druitt, who are going to the festival. The parish supported them with fundraising, including a dinner dance.

Anthony McCarthy, 22, of the Sydney University Catholic chaplaincy team, is part of a group of 110 going direct from Sydney to Toronto that includes young people from New Zealand and Perth.

He is looking forward to being part of a large and varied group with the opportunity to come to know Christ and the Church in a more intimate way.

The young people do not feel pressured by the expectations they carry with them to use their World Youth Day experience to contribute to church life back in Sydney, Anthony said.

So he looks forward to seeing what can be done with them when they return to their parishes, schools, universities, workplaces and Catholic groups and societies.

Selina Hasham, the national World Youth Day pilgrimage co-ordinator, said the pilgrims face the challenge of being a sign of peace in a troubled world.

“At a time when many wouldn’t want to travel, we are taking up a challenge to stand for Christ and be beacons of hope and light,” she said. “At the heart of the World Youth Day experiences there is an individual encounter between each young person and the Lord.”

Mike Willesee is producing a documentary on WYD in Toronto with his Sydney-based company, Trans Media Group.

The pilgrims from the Sydney archdiocese are led by Archbishop Pell and Bishop David Cremin.