With confusion around identity in such a fluid and conflicting world, is it any wonder why young Catholic women are adhering to a more concrete and traditional faith, as the recent study by the University of Newcastle has found?

The subjectivity of modern society has put young Catholic women at a crossroads, forcing themselves to ask the question: Do we relax the moral law on issues such as contraception or our place in church leadership, and try to discern the limits of reform ourselves?

Or do we simply turn to the universal and timeless wisdom of Holy Mother Church?

Young women appear to be rejecting the former approach and taking the road less travelled — just 21 percent of women aged 18-40 told the survey they strongly supported reform in the church, compared to 83 per cent of over-70s.

Why is this so? As young Catholic women working in youth ministry, we have the privilege of meeting thousands of high school students and young adults.

One of the joys of our job is seeing young women come to recognise the truth of their femininity, as expressed through Christ and his church.

But this isn't because they're carried by cultural Catholicism. Rather, young Catholics must be more intentional and proactive in their faith, and this is made possible by greater access to formation.

Young women today are lucky enough to have grown up in the wake of St John Paul II's papacy. His legacy gave us clear teaching on the dignity of human life, sexuality and particularly women.

This asset of formation has provided younger generations with a greater appreciation for the beauty of sexual ethics, and the complementarity of the sexes, rather than a merely legalistic understanding of what one may or may not do.

God invites us into obedience to his will. A zeal for the faith is neither a justification nor a right to lead in the church. No woman or man has a right to anything that God does not call.

This is not a gendered thing — this is a Body of Christ thing.

Unlike previous generations where there existed minimal avenues for laity to genuinely share the faith, young women today have countless opportunities to serve the church without ever feeling the need to enter the liturgical space.

Whether in youth ministry, marriage support, charitable works, sacramental preparation, public school catechesis, teaching, administration or raising the next generation of saints, the space for feminine influence continues.

These charisms, held by women, are never to stray from the mystery of Catholic anthropology and the complementarity — not competition — between men and women.

Young Catholics of today are simply trying to protect these God-ordained differences.

Additionally, there seems to be a fear among the older generations that unless the church is entertaining or keeping up with the times, she will lose her young ones.

There were hints of this same sentiment at the most recent World Youth Day week in Portugal; the relentless noise and general lack of reverence felt more like Coachella than celebrating the mysteries of Christ.

It is no wonder that an overwhelming majority of young Catholics want to return to a more traditional participation in the faith.

But it is not tradition for tradition's sake. We want to set our feet in the apostolic tradition for the sake of drawing upon the richness it provides, along with scripture and the church's magisterium.

The truth, beauty, and goodness of the faith speaks for itself. Young people don't need to be sold the faith with festivals or diluted teachings.

Young Catholics want to return to the basics, to the complementarity of men and women, the sacraments, and to Jesus himself. This is their identity, and the appeal of tradition.

• Catherine Phillips and Anna Harrison are youth officers for Sydney Catholic Youth.
• First published in Catholic Weekly. Republished with permission.

The movement, founded by Fr José Pedro Manglano, is characterised by its focus on music, adoration, formation talks, charity activities, retreats and missionary work.

Hakuna has also made waves on social media with its Catholic pop music, amassing a significant following on platforms like Instagram and YouTube.

While many Catholic groups struggle to engage young people, Hakuna's growth is undeniable - and fast.

Hakuna has spread to almost 40 Spanish cities, another 10 European countries, six Latin American countries plus South Korea and Boston. The group says it plans to start soon in other American cities.

Something changed

Hakuna's origins can be traced back to Madrid a decade ago. It started when Fr Manglano led a group of students to World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

Victoria González, one of Hakuna's earliest members, explained that they sought to enhance their spiritual formation beyond what they received in school, leading to the formation of the group.

"I couldn't go to Rio because I had started working, but seeing how my friends came back was amazing. Something changed in them," González said.

A few attendees formed a little Catholic pop music group and started releasing songs online while working on an album.

The movement's core activities include organising holy hours with spiritual talks, serving the poor and creating Catholic pop music. These endeavours aim to reflect their belief in "radical joy."

Ecclesial identity recognised

The Hakuna movement had its ecclesial identity recognised when Cardinal Carlos Osoro of Madrid approved it as a private association of the faithful in 2017.

In 2018, 1,500 members of Hakuna went to Rome to be greeted by the pope who approvingly called them a "great Eucharistic family."

Hakuna's impact extends beyond music and adoration.

They've ventured into publishing books, hosting concerts in renowned venues and conducting theology courses and spiritual retreats. Fr Manglano, who embodies the spirit of the movement, emphasises the importance of authentic service and love for all.

Core values align

Critics have noted Hakuna's informality, both in its liturgical practices and in its deviation from traditionalist norms within the Church.

Fr Manglano acknowledges that Hakuna's form may seem modern, but he emphasises that the core values of the movement align with the earliest Christian communities' ideals.

Hakuna's distinctive charism revolves around three principles: living with the joyful face of the resurrected Christ, embracing every reality with the unmeasured love of the Cross, and fostering unity within the Church. Their spirituality is deeply rooted in the Eucharist and in a commitment to service.

For some members, the Hakuna movement has become a vocation. For others, it serves as a gateway to rediscovering their faith and deepening their relationship with God.

Life is Joy

Manglano stated that the heart of that life is joy.

"We just live the joy of being Christians. Christ is risen and, after that, any situation of death is a situation of light because Christ's life has triumphed over death, the Father's love overcomes any situation or deathlike condition. It's the joy of living a new life and becoming a new man according to a God that loves us beyond all limits we may put with a love that transfigures reality, transfigures our person," Manglano said.

"It's the joy of knowing that heaven begins here," he added.

Sources

The Pillar

CathNews New Zealand

He met with sexual abuse survivors, Ukrainian pilgrims, university students, young people suffering from illness; and he challenged them all to work for a "hope-filled future."

A much smaller contingent of young people will have the pope's ear this October in Rome at the first of two month-long meetings in 2023 and 2024 of the Synod on Synodality on the themes of communion, participation and mission.

For the first time in history, laypeople will have the right to vote in a synod, and among the voting members are college students and men and women in their 20s and 30s.

The pope has said, "Synod means walking on the same road, walking together."

As we embark on this new path in the life of the church, what are some guidelines to consider when thinking about listening to, and walking with, young people?

Young people are not a monolith. It can be unhelpful and reductive to speak about any group in the church as a unified bloc.

In a similar way, we should avoid speaking of "young people" as if they all share a common perspective on or experience of church.

There are young Catholics who are drawn to more traditional liturgies and those who feel at home in a Catholic Worker House, and some find deep meaning in both.

There are young Catholics who feel hurt and alienated by the church's teaching on sexuality and others who see the church's countercultural witness as a bulwark in a destabilising, relativistic world.

There are hundreds of thousands more who have not set foot in a church since their baptism or confirmation.

Outside the U.S. church, there are young people fighting in and fleeing from the war in Ukraine; young migrants risking their lives in the Mediterranean and on the Rio Grande; and others struggling in refugee camps across the Middle East and Africa.

When framed in this way, "listening to young people" can start to seem an impossible task. But this way of speaking may also shed some light on the sometimes opaque concept of synodality.

If we are to truly listen to all these young voices, it will take more than a Vatican meeting or survey.

It will require a new way of being church, a church that accompanies its people and is attuned to their hopes, doubts and lived experiences.

The church must admit its failures and offer something different.

The working document for the synod says that a synodal church is one that "seeks to widen the scope of communion, but which must come to terms with the contradictions, limits and wounds of history."

Most young Catholics today have known only a church marred by the sexual abuse scandal—but that does not mean they see it as ancient history.

While the church has made great strides in the protection of children and vulnerable adults, the revelations remain shocking for each new generation of Catholics as they mature.

Church leaders must be forthright with young Catholics about past failures and transparent in their ongoing efforts to hold accountable those who covered up abuse.

For young people to show up at the table, they have to trust they are speaking with adults who have their best interests at heart.
But the church has failed young people in other more subtle ways.

It can be easy to blame secular culture, or even young people themselves, for the exodus of millennials and Gen Zers from the pews. And there is plenty to critique about modern society.

But we should ask ourselves: Have we failed to offer something different?

Studies show that Gen Z is the loneliest generation.

If these young people are not finding community in parishes, have we been bold enough in searching for new models of relationship?

In a country marked by deep polarisation, have Catholics too often indulged in those divides instead of seeking to be agents of reconciliation?

Young people today are hungry for authentic communion, both with other people and with God, but they are sceptical of institutions and allergic to hypocrisy.

To be credible in their eyes, Catholics should be honest about our shortcomings but unafraid to go against the grain of an increasingly flattened, materialistic world. Continue reading

• Article written by the Editors, America magazine

But to his dismay, the Portuguese embassy returned his passport without a visa July 24, making him one of a rising number of people prevented from travelling to Lisbon for the world's largest Catholic youth event.

Along with his passport, Javed received a Portuguese form with a box ticked indicating that the authorities considered the reasons for the trip unreliable.

In other words, they were not convinced he would return home after the Aug. 1-6 gathering.

In a video sent to The Pillar July 26, Javed said that his wife had dreamed of receiving a blessing from Pope Francis as the couple married in 2017 but are yet to have children.

"She said that if we get the blessing from the pope, and we will see the pope, maybe God will bless us," the 32-year-old from the city of Sargodha said.

"She has faith that God will bless us."

Javed explained that after hearing about World Youth Day, the couple gathered all the documents required for a visa application, despite the difficulty of doing so.

Visa decisions are made by representatives of the Portuguese government and are made separately from the registration process for WYD, which the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation oversees.

Portugal, a member of the European Union and part of the border-free Schengen Area, has reinstated documentary border controls until the end of WYD, "to safeguard possible threats to public order and internal security" associated with a papal visit. Pope Francis is due to visit the country on Aug. 2-6.

Pilgrims have overstayed their visas at previous WYDs.

Australian media reported that out of the 110,000 people who attended WYD in Sydney in July 2008, 550 did not return home.

By September 2019, 280 pilgrims remained "on the run." Most were from South Pacific countries including Tonga, Fiji and Samoa, with the remainder from India, Pakistan, and Vietnam.

Ahead of WYD in Madrid in 2011, the Spanish authorities suspended visas from Pakistan.

"Many people from this country have tried to stay in Europe after past WYD celebrations as illegal immigrants, that's why the Spanish government has suspended the granting of visas," a spokesman for the event's organizers said at the time.

WYD Lisbon 2023's official website says that the meeting is "aimed at pilgrims from all over the world between the ages of 14 and 30, but pilgrims of other ages are welcome to register."

It also explains that "it is the responsibility of each WYD participant to obtain a visa."

Each person who registers receives a personalised letter of confirmation, which is then signed by their diocesan bishop and forms the basis for their visa application.

Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi signed Javed's registration document.

In March, WYD organizers acknowledged that a group of 10 people with whom Javed and his wife intended to travel had paid the almost $2,500 contribution required for a package including accommodation, meals, transport, insurance, and a pilgrim kit.

The group also donated more than $100 to a solidarity fund that covers the participation costs for "young people coming from less fortunate parts of the world."

"We provided all the documents as they required, but they didn't issue us a visa," Javed said.

"My question is why they didn't issue us a visa. Because we are poor?"

Portugal's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pakistan was named the world's seventh most difficult country in which to be a Christian by the advocacy group Open Doors in its World Watch List 2023.

The organisation said that the nation's Christians — who comprise around 1.8 percent of the almost 250 million population — "are considered second-class citizens and face discrimination in every aspect of life."

Javed, who has struggled financially since the coronavirus crisis, told The Pillar that he had two jobs, bringing in an income of around $90 a month.

He said he had heard that a few applicants from Pakistan with stable, well-paying jobs had received visas.

"We don't have much money … So that's why they didn't give us a visa. So is this event for rich people only? And what about the poor, what about us?" he asked.

"And if they want to do this with us, they should mention on the website that World Youth Day is for rich people only, so the poor people can't apply and can't waste their money and their time, their emotions." Read more

• Luke Coppen is The Pillar's Senior Correspondent. He edited the U.K. Catholic Herald from 2004 to 2020 and was Europe editor of the Catholic News Agency from 2020 to 2022.

It was at Rio de Janeiro's World Youth Day (WYD) that nine-year old Nathan de Brito came to fame. He's the boy who ran to hug the pope and said he wanted to be a priest.

"At that moment of meeting the pope, I could feel God's enormous affection for me, saying ‘My son, I love you,' in the arms of the one who welcomes us like a father.

"I had this very great experience of being welcomed by the pope and that he received what I told him. He simply told me: ‘Pray for me and I will pray for you.'

"Of course, we have the obligation to care for our vocation. But knowing that a person so special prays for us is something very special.

"Remembering that encounter is to always rekindle the flame of vocation," he says.

Developing the priestly vocation

Ten years after meeting Francis, de Brito is a seminarian in a Brazilian preparatory seminary.

"Of course it was not the awakening of my vocation, because I had wanted to be a priest for a long time. But it was, without a doubt, one more motivation within my vocation," de Brito says.

"I liked to play at celebrating Mass, going to Mass.

"I was an altar boy for many years from the age of five and really enjoyed serving. I also really liked catechism and was in a hurry for the sacraments. I remember my first Eucharist a lot, which was the happiest day of my life."

De Brito says he was seven when he first said he wanted to be a priest. Until then he'd always said he wanted to be a teacher and a priest, a doctor and a priest, always something and a priest.

"I always emphasise that my call is to holiness. We are all called to holiness and each one has a call, a specific vocation. And I understand that my vocation is to the priesthood, so I said ‘yes' to this vocation."

Benedict XVI - the pope of de Brito's childhood - was important to him. Benedict's "attraction to the vocation was precisely in him, because he saw in him an imposing figure who spoke timidly, but who spoke very well, he was the man of the liturgy.

"I used to watch the Masses at the Vatican, my eyes wide open."

Later, when he saw Francis in 2013, he said he saw a pontiff "very close to us."

"When he was elected pope, my love for the Church and for my vocation grew, because he was someone close to us...

"It's my duty as a person called to the priesthood to keep that flame burning, if that is God's will. But those sparks that help us maintain our vocation, like the meeting with Pope Francis, are always very pleasant, very happy to remember."

Source

• CNA

The guide seeks to present Holy Scripture in an engaging manner to younger individuals who may not typically engage with the Bible.

The guide, a brainchild of the Bible Society of New Zealand, is a unique response to the Synod on Youth that was held in 2018.

The Bible Society describes Identity:Identified as "unique" and a practical tool to help everyone, especially young people, follow Jesus as they navigate life's challenges and trust him as a true friend and companion.

Beyond featuring hundreds of inspiring and uplifting Biblical passages, Identity:Identified offers 96 pages of curated content across 24 inserts, each addressing key challenges facing today's youth.

Among the topics included are

• navigating loneliness
• peer pressure
• living in a highly sexualised society
• coping with online bullying, and
• understanding life's deeper meaning

Adding a modern touch, the guide features 32 QR codes linking to video testimonials on the transformative power of Scripture in life. An accompanying app enhances the utility of the guide by offering access to insert materials, videos and daily readings.

The New Zealand Bishops have expressed their unequivocal support for Identity:Identified.

They believe the guide will be a powerful reminder to young people of God's enduring love and unfailing support, especially during their most challenging times.

They are optimistic that this innovative approach to spiritual guidance will resonate with young individuals navigating the modern world.

Among the contributors of the Catholic teaching materials are Bishop Steve Lowe, Emeritus Cardinal John Dew, Bishop Michael Dooley and Australia's Archbishop Mark Coleridge, alongside other prominent Catholic figures from Asia-Pacific such as the late Cardinal Sim from Borneo, Archbishop Simon Poh from Malaysia and Bishop Broderick Pabillo from the Philippines.

Source

• Supplied - Bible Society

During his celebration of a Mass marking the 36th World Youth Day, Francis praised young people for their efforts to protect the Earth's environment.

Calling them "friends", Francis told his young congregation "we are not here to be enchanted by the sirens of the world, but to take our lives in hand, to ‘take a bite out of life,' in order to live it to the full.

"In this way, with the freedom of Jesus, we find the courage we need to swim against the current. I would like to emphasize this: swimming against the current, having the courage to swim against the current."

He explained this is not the same as the daily temptation to swim against other people,... but rather against the unhealthy current of our own selfishness, closed-mindedness and rigidity that often seeks like-minded groups to survive."

Francis told them they have been "entrusted with an exciting but also challenging task, to stand tall while everything around us seems to be collapsing."

He also thanked them "for all those times when you cultivate the dream of fraternity, work to heal the wounds of God's creation, fight to ensure respect for the dignity of the vulnerable and spread the spirit of solidarity and sharing."

He noted that many young people have criticized environmental contamination.

"We need this," Francis told them.

Exhorting them to avoid "ambiguous compromises," Francis told them to be free and authentic instead "the critical conscience of society.

"Don't be afraid to criticize! We need your criticism. Many of you, for example, are critical of environmental pollution. We need this! Be free in criticism.

"Be passionate about truth, so that, with your dreams, you can say: ‘My life is not captive to the mindset of the world: I am free, because I reign with Jesus for justice, love and peace!'"

Social justice and care of the environment have been key messages of Francis's papacy.

He is expected to meet with young people from all over the world at the Catholic church's World Youth jamboree in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• AP News
• Image: America Magazine

According to Archbishop Américo Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon and president of the "WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation", Pope Francis is following the preparations for World Youth Day "quietly" and with "excitement."

Last Wednesday, 2 September, Archbishop Aguiar participated in the first General Audience held by the Pope with participation of the faithful, after they had been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Pope is very happy, but he is also calm," said Archbishop Aguiar, explaining that this is because "he is aware that the preparatory work for WYD is progressing." Read more

According to a Vatican website notice, the World Meeting of Families will now take place in Rome in June 2022 instead of June 2021.

The notice also says World Youth Day which was to be held in Lisbon in 2022 has been postponed until 2023.

Uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the possibility of a post-pandemic financial crisis are casting a shadow over World Youth Day preparations.

The event attracts hundreds of thousands of people and needs extensive fundraising and planning.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, says as "no one knows what will happen", it seemed prudent to push the World Meeting of Families meeting back a year.

The other reason, Cardinal Farrell said, is that although people are talking about "returning to normal" and government leaders are making plans for phasing out lockdowns and reopening businesses, "we do not believe travel will be that extensive" anytime soon.

The dicastery has canceled all international meetings until January 2021.

It is planning a special event for a few young people, however.

In November, a small group from Panama, where World Youth Day was celebrated in 2019, will meet with a few young people from Lisbon on the Feast of Christ the King to hand the World Youth Day cross.

The hand-over was originally scheduled for Palm Sunday, but was postponed because of the pandemic.

If the young representatives from Panama and Portugal are not able to travel to Rome Farrell says Panamanians and Portuguese who live in Rome will participate in the event.

Source

• The Tablet
• Image: Church of the Sacred Heart

"Even the recent final document of what was a very dynamic Synod on Young People is disappointingly dull.

"It could have been so much better if young people had been entrusted with being a part of the writing group.

"I am confident though that slowly the Synod Office in Rome will evolve its working methods and better equip itself for the renewal that Papa Francesco is calling for."

He was speaking before he left for the 2019 World Youth day in Panama.

The bishop had been invited to lead one of the three Catechesis sessions for English-speaking pilgrims.

Posting on Facebook from the World Youth Day, Drennan gave an example of what it means to listen to young people.

The Catechesis session he led was followed by a Q and A session.

The bishop said he had emphasised that any question was welcome; nothing was off the table.

The first three questions were all broadly speaking about sexuality. Transgender, and being gay - were the first two.

"To pretend that homosexuality and gender dysphoria do not exist or are somehow outside God's plan for humanity is a rejection, not defence, of truth and thus nonsensical.

"The inadequacy of the commentary on sexuality of some within the Church I believe is impacting negatively on the entire credibility of the Church.

"And in some areas, it's time theology caught up with science. Thankfully the recent Synod in Rome on young people acknowledged this."

Drennan said it was the third question, however, which left him speechless, choking.

"A girl from Jamaica stood up, looked me in the eye, and said: 'All life is a blessing, right Bishop?"'

"Sure," I responded.

"Then why does the Church define me as being the result of fornication?"

"I was reduced to silence for some time, not because I didn't have a response, but because the thought of that young woman's pain (and I assumed also her Mum's) left me only with the language of a lumpy throat: silence.

"We, the Church, will always fall short in communicating God's love.

"We are human and limited. But every privileged moment of truly sharing another's pain will be a step of purification and hope for us all and those we encounter."

After the questions were over and the crowds dispersed, Drennan found the Jamaican girl and hugged her. "And through her tears, she simply said: thank you."

Source

• Supplied Sophia Macris Catholic Diocese of Palmerston North
• Facebook
• Image: Facebook

World Youth Day, a massive gathering of young people from around the world that's become something like the Woodstock of the Catholic Church.

Next year Panama will host the event, which is being organised by young people themselves. Read more

All three will take participants on a spiritual journey with Our Lady when she finds herself chosen by God.

World Youth Day (WYD) sees young people from all over the world work to build and strengthen the bonds of faith, friendship and hope.

Their work symbolises the union between people of different cultures and countries.

In 2017 and 2018 WYD involves diocesan-level events. The next international gathering is set for 2019 in Panama.

The international gatherings are held each three years. This year's was in Poland.

The WYDs are themed, with three years study culminating in the international event which the Pope attends.

Where WYD for the past three years looked at the Beatitudes, the next three will focus on Chapter 1 of Luke's Gospel.

This Chapter is about the Annunciation and includes the Magnificat.

This is Mary's response to Elizabeth who said "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of they womb".

When they start the new three-year cycle next year, participants will consider Mary's words where she says: "The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name".

In 2018, participants will contemplate the Archangel Gabriel's opening words to Mary at the Annunciation "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found great favour with God".

Then, in 2019 they will reflect on Mary's reply to Gabriel: "I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word".

Source

• Catholic Online
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Louvre

So said Pope Francis on Sunday when he officially closed WYD in Krakow, thanking the thousands of youth who traveled across the world to participate.

"I am happy to announce that the next World Youth Day — after the two that will be held on the diocesan level — will take place in 2019 in Panama," the Pope said July 31.

He made the announcement after celebrating the closing Mass for the July 26-31 WYD event in Krakow, and before leading youth in the traditional Marian Angelus prayer.

Rumors on where the next WYD would take place centered primarily on either Asia or Africa in the lead-up to the Krakow gathering, making the announcement of Panama to a certain extent unexpected, at least among the youth.

However, according to one local, the country could use it.

Aquilino, 40, from Panama City, was leading a group of youth from his hometown during the Krakow encounter.

He told CNA in an interview that for him, the biggest takeaway from the event has been "faith and love," which he said are badly needed both by his home country of Panama and by the whole world.

Events like WYD, he said, "show to the world the unity of the Church, and the strength of the youth of the world.

It's very important that people around the world can see what has happened here." Read more

They were taking part weekend-long event to mark World Youth Day 2016 (WYD).

170 students from across the South Island attended the event. Organiser Abina Pope said WYD was "an opportunity for students of the same age to come together, share ideas and listen to various members of religious organisations".

Activities included volunteer work at the City Mission, a barbecue on Saturday night and a disco held at the Catholic Cathedral College.

On Sunday students walked an inter-faith pilgrimage through Christchurch, visiting religious locations across the city including the Transitional Cathedral on Hereford St.

The cross was place inside the perimeter of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament site "to assure the people of Canterbury we are strong in our faith and we will rebuild."

The organisers of the local event wanted to depict the pilgrimage of the symbols of WYD, The Holy Year Cross, and the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani, through Europe.

The WYD symbols were handed over by the Brazilian youth to the youth of Poland in Rome on Palm Sunday 2014.

After visiting five Polish dioceses (of Poznan, Kalisz, Wloclawek, Warsaw-Praga and Siedlce), the cross and the icon set out on a journey through Central and East European countries.

They were in Belorus, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The symbols returned to Poland on December 14, 2014, and travelled several thousand kilometres around country.

On July 25, the Cross and the Icon were placed in the Adoration Tent on the grounds of the Jordana Park in Krakow, from where they were driven to the places of celebrations with Pope Francis.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• www.krakow2016.com
• pope2016.com
• Image: stuff.co.nz

During those seven days, it won't really matter if they're left, center or right-wing Catholics. It won't matter on what side of the liturgical wars they stand in, if they're discerning a religious vocation, or if they simply tagged along because they thought it'd be fun.

For seven days, the quest will be much more about finding pilgrims from the furthest geographical region - Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, Australia, told Crux last week that the right answer would be Aussies, although of course, for Australians the search will be directed somewhere else.

Here are seven facts or initiatives that are perhaps unknown about #Krakow2016:

Francis' chasuble and the throwaway culture

Papal vestments during a visit abroad are usually the responsibility of the host country. During his visits, Francis has used liturgical clothing created for the occasion by indigenous communities, religious sisters and even inmates.

The liturgical vestments Francis will don during World Youth Day (WYD) were created for the occasion by a group of Iraqi refugee girls living in Jordan. According to their own words, the vestments were done with the "left-over materials" of their clothes collection,Made by Iraqi girls, considered a success story amidst so much suffering among Christian refugees.

"We too were thrown away by the evil men who expelled us from our land," they wrote in a letter addressed to Francis and published by WYD's website. "We made these vestments recycling pieces of fabric. But the beautiful things, useful to give glory to the Lord, often come from what is rejected."

The young women were supposed to attend the event, but because of their refugee status, their visas were denied. Continue reading

Sources

• Article by Inés San Martín, Vatican correspondent for Crux.
• Image: Focus Missions

He knows what lies inside the hearts and minds of today's youth.

This is not because of any third-party polling or sophisticated survey, but because Pope Francis practices what he's called an "apostolate of the ear."

The Pope says it takes patience and grace to truly listen to what others have to say.

He stressed this during his Angelus address this month, warning that people's hectic lives were threatening an already hobbled ability to listen.

As Pope, a busy ministry that could easily lead to isolation or over-scheduling, he has worked hard to make the time to listen to people of all backgrounds in public and private settings.

He has often broken with papal protocol to get an unfiltered look at what today's youth think and feel.

He is planning to scrap pre-written speeches and ask his audience what questions they have.

World Youth Day is the largest regular Catholic gathering in the world, when all young pilgrims experience this great festival of faith together.

While many young people attending the celebration of faith arrive with the support of their communities and countries, others are not so fortunate.

Among these is a large group of Iraqi youth, who aim to witness to the joy of their faith despite ongoing violent persecution.

We are so happy and proud to be Christians,' Father Rayan Atto, who is in charge of coordinating the large group traveling to Krakow said.

Source

• Catholic News Service
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Pixabay

In an interview on the Crux website, Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher said Francis is " . . . making lots of people quite distant from the Church suddenly listening and now interested".

The archbishop said many people in modern Australia have not rejected the Gospel, or had a bad experience of the Church.

"Many have just never been presented with it," Archbishop Fisher said.

"It's often received very warmly and openly by such people - they're not coming with issues of anger toward the Church or the left/right polarisation that some people within the Church suffer from, or preconceptions that almost vaccinate them to the Church.

"In some cases they're very, very open and ask innocent, almost funny questions about Christianity.

"And once you present well with passion and joy and with some real intellectual rigour the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the tradition handed down from the apostles, they're often very excited by that and very ready to be part of that."

Archbishop Fisher noted the "moment" afforded by Pope Francis for evangelisation.

"Will a future generation look back on us and say, ‘What an opportunity you missed!'

"I don't want that said of my generation and me and of the Church at this time.

"We've got some wonderful things to offer, as well as things yet to learn ourselves. We've got a great opportunity in front of us and I want to embrace it wholeheartedly."

In the interview, Archbishop Fisher also discussed Church sexual abuse scandals, the impact of World Youth Day in Sydney and the upcoming WYD in Poland.

Sources

• Crux
• Image: Catholic News Service

The "DoCat" comes from the creators of 2011's "You Cat" youth catechism.

The former will attempt to present the Church's social teaching in a creative style more attractive and comprehensible to youth.

The new book will be launched during World Youth Day in Krakow.

It will be given to young pilgrims in the form of an app.

Continue reading

Since 966, Poland has often been Antemurale Christianitatis, the bulwark of Christianity against invasion, and has time and again defended our civilization.

Now is the perfect opportunity to revisit the always dramatic, constantly inspiring, and often tragic history of the faith in this land that is the crossroads between East and West.

Europe is largely a manmade concept, and the border between Europe and Asia is more cultural than geographic. In the Middle Ages, becoming part of Europe involved accepting Christianity.

This happened in Poland when the nation's Duke Mieszko I of the Piast dynasty was baptized in 966. As a result, the Holy Roman Emperor and other European rulers recognized Poland as a part of the European family.

In his book Memory and Identity, Pope St. John Paul II noted that while religious wars and persecutions raged across Europe, his native Poland was an oasis of tolerance. The Kingdom of Poland, which eventually came into a dynastic union with Lithuania and became the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth following the Union of Lublin in 1569, was a place to which persecuted religious groups flocked.

Two-thirds of the world's Jews trace their ancestry to Poland; while in the rest of Europe Jews were walled in ghettoes or expelled, they were given privileges by the Polish kings. Numerous Armenian merchants settled in Poland, as did radical Protestant sects.

Following the Reformation, most Polish nobles (who constituted up to 10 percent of the nation's population, the highest proportion anywhere in Europe) adopted Calvinism, although most reverted to Catholicism thanks to the efforts of the Jesuits.

In 1596, a group of Ukrainian Orthodox bishops in Poland entered into a union with Rome, forming the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the largest Eastern rite church today. Overall, only about 40 percent of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's population consisted of Roman Catholic Poles. Continue reading

Sources

• Article by Filip Mazurczak, assistant editor of the European Conservative and a correspondent for the National Catholic Register in The Catholic World Report.
• Image: Catholic Herald

Francis will visit the camp while he is in Poland for World Youth Day.

He will follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, St John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who also visited Auschwitz.

In 2006, Benedict XVI questioned God amid what he described as a "stupefied" silence: "Where was God in those days? Why was he silent? How could he permit this endless slaughter, this triumph of evil?"

"I pray to God not to allow a similar thing ever to happen again," he said.

According to Fr Antonio Spadaro, who edits a Jesuit-run journal in Rome and is a confidante of Francis, the current Pope, like John Paul II and Benedict XVI before him, "finds this to be a mandatory, one could say fundamental, stop".

As with Benedict, during his visit Francis will share an interreligious prayer with leaders of the local Jewish community.

Fr Spadaro believes that just as the German pontiff questioned God during his visit to Auschwitz, Francis is bound to question humanity, as he did in 2014, when he visited the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem, in Israel.

"Adam, where are you?" Francis asked at the time.

"Adam, who are you? I no longer recognise you. Who are you, o man? What have you become? Of what horror have you been capable? What made you fall to such depths?"

"In Auschwitz he will ask this question again to remind men and women that what was done here is incomprehensible," Fr Spadaro told Crux, minutes after a visit to the extermination camp.

On the other hand, the priest added, "in the relationship with God, Auschwitz is the icon of a world that doesn't know mercy".

More than 1 million Jews from all over Europe, 150,000 Poles, 25,000 gypsies, 15,000 Soviets and 25,000 prisoners from other ethnic groups were deported to Auschwitz in World War II.

Of these, 1.1 million were killed, and 90 per cent of those killed were Jews.

Sources

• Crux
• Image: The Observer