As in previous years, there has been little to no critical evaluation from inside the church as to the effectiveness and impact of the World Youth Day. While this youth festival corresponds well with the media-driven culture of globalization, several questions must be asked.

• Is it the most effective use of our limited resources?
• What theologies and ecclesiologies are reflected in the World Youth Day?
• Is the organization of the program done in a transparent, participatory and ethical manner?
• What is the impact of the WYD on the local economy and the global environment (carbon footprint)?
• More importantly perhaps, what is the real impact of the World Youth Day on the poor?

An excellent article by Philippe Vaillancourt in Quebec, puts it this way:

Since the arrival of Pope Francis, we saw the papacy question habits and adopt a new style…[However] WYD is strongly marked by obscene spending in the context of universal Catholicism, a paradoxical undeniable ecological footprint and a mixed impact. Recognizing this, a simple question arises: is the current formula for WYD still morally acceptable within the Church? Asking this question is ultimately to take an interest in the credibility that the Church wants to have in the eyes of young people. Continue reading

Sources

• Kevin J. Ahern in Daily Theology
• Image: Caritas Blog

Kevin J. Ahern will begin work as a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College in 2013.

"I got an email message and I checked to see if it was real, if it came from the right place, from the right source. I was so surprised and I almost fainted. It was a great lunch."

27 year old Philip ,who was born in India, is a communications engineer. He told CNA, "I don't have enough words to describe what I feel. I felt so blessed and it was the best experience of my life. I have a lot of responsibility now with this."

During the Friday lunch, Pope Francis sat at one of the tables, while Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio sat at the other. On both sides sat seven young people. Philip sat in the first spot on the Pope's left.

"It was a great opportunity in which the Pope asked us to spread the hope of Christ to others. He also asked us to pray for him," he said. "We didn't care about the food, just about him."

A papal lunch with young people from the worlds' continents has become a World Youth Day tradition.

Source

• CNA
• Image: CNA

At the request of Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and to help young people prepare to participate in World Youth Day, a "week of missions" will be held in Brazil from July 17-20, 2013.

The "Week of Missions" replaces what had become the "Days in the Dioceses" programme and its purpose is to give young people the chance to participate in spiritual activities, works of solidarity and missionary and cultural events.

According to WYD organiser, Raphael Fritz, the programme will give World Youth Day pilgrims a more authentic experience of what life is like locally.

Fr Jefferson Goncalves, director of the pre-World Youth Day activities hopes the "Week of Missions" will be a "legacy to future World Youth Days," and lead young people into missionary discipleship.

Also in preparation for WYD, the traditional World Youth Day Cross and an icon of Mary has been travelling around Brazil since September 18, 2011, and to mark the event, organisers have announced a free smartdevice App called "Follow the Cross", or "Siga a Cruz" in Portuguese.

Available for iPhones, iPods, iPads and Android phones "Siga a Cruz," allows users to track the WYD pilgrim cross and icon of Mary as it makes its way around Brazil.

The App also allows users to interact with friends on Twitter and Facebook.

The WYD cross and icon of Mary will visit each diocese in the vast and highly Catholic Brazil as well as dioceses in the surrounding countries of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay.

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• CNA
• WYD Rio 2013
• Image: WYD Central