World Youth Day
Cologne, Germany August 2005
Immaculate Conceptions Youth Group is joining thousands of young people from around the world this year for World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany. World Youth Day is a pilgrimage of young people and a festival of encounter and solidarity. Our Holy Father John Paul II initiated World Youth Day in 1986 and he considered young people as special bearers of hope for a fairer future in a world of solidarity. He also said, that World Youth Day gives young people the opportunity to discover the "young and modern mystery of the church" in the common experience of pilgrimage, prayer and worship.
Thank you Love Heidi
Some Members of Immaculate Conceptions Youth Group will participate in this year's World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany.
The initiator of World Youth Day was Pope John Paul II. Since 1986 he has issued invitations to this international festival to the young adults of the world, as he considered them to be special bearers of hope for a fairer future in a world of solidarity. At the World Youth Day in Toronto, the Holy Father voiced the message he wished to convey to young people:
"The aspiration that humanity nurtures, amid countless injustices and sufferings, is the hope of a new civilization marked by freedom and peace. But for such an undertaking, a new generation of builders is needed Moved not by year or violence but by the urgency of genuine love, they must learn to build, brick by brick, the city of God within the city of man. - Allow me, dear young people, to consign this hope of mine to you.- you must be those 'builders'! You are the men and women of tomorrow. The future is in your hearts and in your hands. God is entrusting to you the task, at once difficult and uplifting, of working with him in the building of the civilization of love. '
World Youth Day is a pilgrimage of young people and a festival of encounter and solidarity. The invitation is directed to the young people from all over the world. The purpose of World Youth Day is to take up the main concern of our late Pope John Paul 11 - a renewal of evangelization that is also to reach young people. World Youth Day gives young people the opportunity to discover the "young and modem mystery of the church" (John Paul 11) in the common experience of pilgrimage, prayer and worship.
Different forms of encounter have developed over the history of World Youth Days, enabling a deeper experience of spirituality and community. Besides the large-scale celebrations of Mass, with up to 800 000 participants, there are many smaller, decentralized programs. The variety of the world church is illustrated in the catecheses celebrated by bishops and young people from all over the world in their own national languages. The Youth Festival combines joy and encounter with music, theater, dance and more.
World Youth Day is designed to benefit both hosts and guests. "The Church has much to say to young people, and they have much to say to the Church. This mutual dialogue must be open-hearted, clear and courageous. It fosters encounter and exchange between the generations and becomes a source of wealth and youth for the Church and society" (Pope John Paul 11).
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Eight members of Immaculate Conception Church traveled to Cologne Germany in August 2005 for World Youth Day. Peter Murphy, Sarah Farden, Jayme LeVea,Justin LeVea, Chris Farden, Brittany Latham, chaperones, Heidi Buda and Linda Farden. |
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