Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Getting ready for World Youth Day
Getting ready for World Youth Day
Local youths gear up for WYD At Home event in Sidney, Ohio
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 27, 2008
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Walter Warren | The Michigan Catholic |
Detroit — Come time for World Youth Day festivities in July, some youths from the Archdiocese of Detroit won't be saying "G'day" — they'll be saying "O-hi-o" instead.
As of late June, about 140 youths, young adults and youth ministers from the archdiocese had signed on for a local World Youth Day pilgrimage, "See You in Sidney… Ohio." Playing on the location of the international World Youth Day celebration – Sydney, Australia – the dioceses of Michigan and Ohio put together the local pilgrimage, which will take place July 19 and 20. Sidney, Ohio, is a three-hour drive from Detroit down I-75, just north of Dayton and west of Columbus.
More than 1,000 young people are expected to gather at a high school campus there, partake in sacraments and adoration, make pilgrimage walks, listen to Catholic bands and speakers, and even watch part of the World Youth Day festivities in Sydney, Australia, with Pope Benedict XVI on a large screen. "We're all excited about it," says 15-year-old Rachel Rogers-Akers of St. Alfred Parish in Taylor, who will be attending the Ohio pilgrimage with her sisters, Becky, 17, and Katie, 14. "We're planning and already figuring out what to pack and stuff."
See you in Sidney…Ohio!
Youths and young adults can still sign up for the World Youth Day At Home pilgrimage in Sidney, Ohio. The event will be July 19 and 20. Sidney is three hours south of Detroit down I-75. The events will be on the grounds of Lehman High School. Registration fee is $90. Transportation is $30. Youths must attend the event with a parish group. For more information, visit 2008 World Youth Day or call Joyce Francois at (313) 237-5812. |
Like many youths around the archdiocese, Rachel, her siblings and members of her youth group have spent a year getting ready for the pilgrimage. And while they may not be spending a full day on a plane and a week in the Australian winter, they will be looking to partake in the same spiritual experience that's at the heart of World Youth Day.
"I'm looking forward mainly to meeting other Catholics and friends and people to relate to, and hearing speakers talk about God," Rachel says. "I know Jesse Manibusan is supposed to be here, and he's one of my favorite speakers."
In addition to Manibusan — a nationally-known Catholic motivational speaker and musician — featured presenters at World Youth Day in Ohio will include Catholic inspirational speaker Mike Patin and Cleveland-based Catholic band Who Do You Say That I Am. Organizers have also prepared a special track for Hispanic Youth.
"It's going to be a fun weekend," says Joe Shevnock, 17, from St. Mary Parish in Port Huron. "The stuff that I've learned (about my faith) will probably be reinforced. The message that they're trying to send will be more fun because of the friendly atmosphere and the hanging out with my peers."
Several local teenagers say they anticipate something similar to the Catholic Youth Organization's annual Rainbow conference – only under the stars, and with young people from a much wider area. Rainbow is held each year at a hotel in downtown Detroit and typically garners 2,000 youths from the Archdiocese of Detroit.
One thing's for sure, they say – it's not just a vacation.
"It's something different," says 17-year-old Katrina Oberski of St. Mary Parish. "You take your time, you go there with other people, and you get closer to God that way."
It's not just the youths who are excited about the World Youth Day At Home event. Like the overseas pilgrimage, several youth ministers have made the Ohio pilgrimage the focal point of their youth ministry.
"Everything we do really points to this event," says Tim Faremouth, St. Alfred's youth minister. "All the fundraising that we do and all the planning really point toward World Youth Day. Probably because it's a goal that the kids have, and it really has a lot of spiritual value in the retreat nature that it has.
"Besides, kids like excursions. They like to travel."
Indeed, youths from St. Alfred took part in the same World Youth Day preparation as did many others who are traveling to Australia – from fundraisers to retreats to mini-pilgrimages in the Detroit area.
They'll also be enduring many of the same conditions, such as long walks, sleeping under the stars, and of course seeing lots of new faces.
Julieta Oliva, a youth minister who's taking a group from St. Stephen/Mary Mother of the Church Parish in Detroit, says the Ohio event will help youths to better see the true nature of the Catholic Church.
"It is good for youth to meet other youth from different places," Oliva says. "In many ways – spiritually and culturally – it opens their minds to other realities. It is always good to go on a pilgrimage, because our faith is called to be expressed in the multitudes."
And while the larger World Youth Day festivities are half a world away, the hopes of those who will attend the Ohio pilgrimage exemplifies the nature of the Church, which is united in spirit and spread across all nations.
"I hope it helps me understand a little more of my religion," says Rachel Rogers-Akers, "And I hope it brings me closer to God and other people, so I can be closer to Him and be able to understand my life a little better."
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