“Every Nation, Every Tribe, Come Together, to worship You”

In the times of Today, rallies are associated with impeachment cries or anti-corruption marches. We let out our grief in the streets hoping to make a change. But the world youth day (July 15-20,2008, Sydney Australia) experience brought a whole new light to rallies. In contrast to inflicting pain and conflict to one another, people exchanged smiles and conversations with a sense of security. “Where are you from?” would be the most used phrase during the entire event. It was able to make great change in the hearts of the young through joyous and peaceful means. Never in my life have I seen such a huge crowd of almost 500,000 people bringing out in the streets their Love for Christ and marching for love and hope. The whole world came together, has set aside differences and barriers, to be witnesses of the Faith. As it was emphasized, participants were called “pilgrims” and not tourists. A tourist holds a map knowing where he wishes to go, while as pilgrims, it is journey and continuous discoveries along the way, openly subjecting oneself to receive whatever grace the Holy Spirit may present.

Figure 1 Stephanie Braganza and Stephanie Pua with a German pilgrim

The theme of this year’s WYD is “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witness”,personally decided upon by his Holiness Pope Benedict the XVI.The tradition of the World Youth Day was founded by Pope John Paul II.

The week long event started with an opening mass at 4:30pm at Barangaroo, presided over by Cardinal Goerge Pell of Australia, followed by youth festivals, concerts and wonderful fireworks to commence the opening day.

Figure 2 A nice welcome from the heavens greeted the pilgrims at the opening mass.









Figure 3 Iraqi group with the Christian Life Community of the Philippines.
For the next three days, (July 16-18), Pilgrims had catechesis sessions assigned in over 250 venues and in the afternoons, pilgrims had the freedom to choose from various youth festivals (concerts, talks, dances, forums, fairs and others).A highlight of the three days was the Papal arrival where all of the pilgrims welcomed him with great warmth and eagerness.

Figure 4 His Holiness was first seen by the crowd via Sydney 2000 cruise ship.

Another notable event for the Filipinos was the Asian youth festival
gathering on the evening of July 16. There, each Asian country had a presentation but the biggest performance was given by 800 Filipinos who danced the Folk dance Subli in unison. Filipino performers were in their native balintawak costumes while male dancers wore plain white shirt and red pants. This is also our way of inviting them to the Asian Youth Day, November of 2009, which will be held in Manila. The third common gathering of all pilgrims took place at Barangaroo for the Stations of the Cross.

Figure 5 His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI addresses the crowd.

As early as 3am of July 19, Pilgrims began their pilgrimage walk to the Randwick racecourse and centennial park in preparation for the final evening vigil with the Pope and sleep out under the stars at the Southern Cross precint . A final mass on the morning of the 20th was presided by the Pope. Our group is one of those especially blessed to have been stricken by His Holiness when he went past us in his Pope mobile twice. Mission accomplished! We are now more than ready to fly back to the Philippines 


Figure 6 Pilgrims lay their sleeping bags at the racecourse to prepare for an overnight stay.
To walk, walk and walk may sound like so much discomfort. However, to walk together with hundreds and thousands of others who share the same cost and belief makes all the discomforts unfelt. The energy was just too high for any pain to overpower.


Figure 7 Happy pilgrims despite the long walk and heat

Rome holds a small World Youth Day yearly, however the big ones happen every three years. The next one will be in 2011, Madrid Spain! There are different means by which one can join the World Youth Day. Some applied with their respective Diocese, our group applied the Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY), There was an Ateneo group and Danyu (Opus Dei). It is also possible to register as an individual. A school may form it’s own delegation and apply as a subgroup of commissions such as the ECY.

Receive the Power of the Holy Spirit!
See you in Madrid!