Words of the JPII for the passage of the WYD Cross:
I greet the young Canadians present, led by the Archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Ambrozic, and to them I entrust the Cross. I encourage you to prepare well for the next important appointment of World Youth Day, which has as its theme "You are the salt of the earth .. you are the light of the world" (Mt 5:13-14). Dear young people, get ready to welcome the young people of the world to your beautiful country by renewing your own fidelity to Christ the Lord. Fidelity to Christ, this is my invitation to all the English-speaking pilgrims. Until we meet in Toronto!
Je salue affectueusement les pèlerins français qui ont participé à la Liturgie du dimanche des Rameaux, et de manière toute spéciale les jeunes du Canada. Chers jeunes, que la préparation des dix-septièmes Journées mondiales de la Jeunesse soit une occasion propice pour un approfondissement de votre foi et de votre vie avec le Christ, ainsi que pour un témoignage renouvelé de votre charité et de la joyeuse ouverture de votre cœur aux dimensions du monde ! Ma prière vous accompagne, avec mon affectueuse Bénédiction apostolique.
Before leaving, the 47 young Canadians prepared statements of what the trip meant for them. Here are some of their thoughts:
Nicole
Denise Brown, 24, Edmonton, Alberta
Accepting the cross will be the greatest honor of my life. I will be continuing
my lifelong pilgrimage that I began at the Denver WYD in 1993. As well,
I will participate in the evangelization of all Canadians through the
powerful presence of the cross, our very special gift.
Christopher
James Harper, 20, St. Theresa Point, Manitoba (Oji-Cree Nation)
The reason I agreed to go on this trip is that I am in search of feeling whole again. I need to be lifted and need to feel that I am doing a good thing. I would like to have the huge honor of being part of something for the youth of Canada and the world.
Joseph
Leon Simard, 19, St. Pascal-Baylon, Ontario
My personal hopes are to redefine what is faith, in my life and for the
people around me. To tell my country that the church is not dying, it’s
reliving through the young people of this world. To accept this cross,
not only as a gift from the Pope, but as a statement that the church is
stronger than ever.
Heidi
Snow, 18, Wabush (Labrador), Newfoundland
I really believe that this pilgrimage to Rome is a great honor, I am hoping that I will meet new people as well as learn more about the representation of the cross in this WYD, also I hope I will get to appreciate the many wonderful sights that Rome has to offer without the great crowds that we traveled in, during WYD 2002 last August.
Justin
Yusen Lee, 18, Markham, Ontario
I hope to strengthen my faith and experience the essence of Catholicism by interacting with other youth from Canada and Italy. I aspire to a deepened awareness of the roles of Canadian Catholic youth in the world. I also look forward to participating in the liturgies at St. Peter’s, and celebrating “my faith in action” with family and friends on my return.
Pope
John Paul II Presents the World Youth Day Cross
to 47 Canadian Youth
Toronto, April 8, 2001 – In a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square today, Pope John Paul II entrusted the World Youth Day (WYD) Cross to 47 Canadian youth.
The Canadians accepted the simple wooden Cross, which is four metres high, two metres wide and weighs 30 kg, and carried it before a crowd of several hundred thousand people in St. Peter’s Square, led by five Inuit drummers from Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
The WYD Cross will now come to Canada where it will be received at an 18,000 person ceremony at Ottawa’s Corel Centre. After five days in Ottawa, the Cross will undertake its trip to every region of Canada over the coming 16 months leading up to WYD 2002. While in Canada, the Cross will travel by airplane, truck, boat as well as by snowmobile in the far north.
Before departing for Rome, one of the Inuit drummers, 24-year old Clayton Morrell from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, commented: “The Holy Father has always been my personal inspiration, ever since I was a boy. Even when I left the church for a few years, I still believed he was someone special. Now that I have returned and am volunteering with the church, his presence will give me an even stronger foundation, just like he and Peter are ‘the rock’ upon which the church is built.”
Rima Hbeika, 24, from Montreal, said the following: “I hope this pilgrimage contributes to my life as a woman and as a Christian. It has been an exceptional opportunity to grow, to be inspired, to receive new life with joy and enthusiasm for the youth of Quebec.”
As the host country, Canada receives the Cross during the year prior to the July 18-28, 2002 event. This allows young Canadians to prepare for WYD, as was the case with the seven previous WYD host countries since 1984.
His Eminence Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, Archbishop of Toronto, who is in Rome with the Canadian delegation, said: “For the youth of Canada, the first part of the journey begins. At the dawn of a new millennium, we carry the Cross of Christ which has been handed on to us. The youth of Canada will take up this particular cross on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week.
The Cross speaks of the total self-gift of the Son of God which raises him and us with him into the joy of the Resurrection.”
Part of the special role of the Cross is that young Canadians will carry it to places where their peers usually do not feel the presence of God. This includes the streets where some young people live as well as youth detention centres, shopping malls, ski hills and night clubs. It will go to Sheshatshiu to let the young Innu there know that they are not alone as some of them struggle with substance abuse.
The simplicity of the Cross contains the WYD message, which is a call to young people to find Christ in new and deeper ways. They learn that they are not alone because like many others from around the world, including some in circumstances of persecution or war-torn societies, they are struggling to live their faith. Most of all, it shows that the Catholic Church is young and youth have their place in it.
WYD will bring over 500,000 people from around the world to all parts of Canada, culminating in a week of activities in Toronto. WYD will end with a papal mass at Downsview Park on July 28, 2002.
Most Rev. Gerald Wiesner, OMI, Bishop of Prince George and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, commented on the Roman ceremony: “By handing this cross to us, the Holy Father is inviting us to focus our lives on Christ and to prepare for WYD. The cross is similar to the Olympic torch that raises both the passion and pride of a host country. It will inspire us to become more committed to WYD and to the welcome we will give to young people from all continents in response to the Holy Father’s invitation.”
Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., National Director of WYD 2002, described the experience in Rome: “Over the past days, young people from over 30 Canadian dioceses and from every part of our country have met the Holy Father, have walked in procession carrying the Cross high with Italian youth through Rome. They have been wonderful ambassadors of the Canadian Church to the world. Now the great adventure begins for Toronto and Canada. The rich images and memories of these days will inspire us to welcome the Cross and WYD with enthusiasm as the Holy Father has asked.”
At
Palm Sunday Mass, Pope Has Sights on Toronto
Canadians Receive World Youth Day Cross
VATICAN CITY, APR. 8, 2001 (Zenit.org).- At a Palm Sunday Mass that combined a World Youth Day, John Paul II bid farewell to the thousands of young people gathered in St. Peter's Square by saying: "Until we meet in Toronto!"
The youths were among the 60,000 pilgrims on hand for the Mass marking Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the start of Holy Week. This year's World Youth Day was marked at the diocesan level.
The Mass was also the moment when Italian youths gave the World Youth Day Cross to their Canadian contemporaries, who came to Rome to receive the cross. The last international youth-day was in Rome, last August; the next will be in Toronto from July 22-28, 2002. Preliminary events across Canada will begin July 18, 2002. The cross will go on a promotional tour in Canada.
Last August's World Youth Day drew more than 2 million young people to Rome. The Canadian organizers were expecting 500,000 for next year's event. However, requests for accommodation already number 350,000, not including Canadians.
John Paul II wants to be in Toronto for the event, and he said so this morning when he greeted the Canadians in St. Peter's Square. Among them were representatives of the Indian communities of northern Canada, dressed in their traditional attire. A young Indian couple did bird imitations, a greeting that accompanies the start of the yearly period of light in Canada.
The pilgrims gather in the square held olive branches in their hands, recalling Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, only days before his crucifixion on Good Friday.
The Pope, dressed in blood-red vestments, blessed the branches at the start of the procession. He followed in a white jeep. During the Mass, the Gregorian chanting of three voices recalled Jesus' last moments, as narrated in the Gospel.
John Paul II listened intently to the narrative. During the homily, he invited youth once again to follow Jesus, the only "way to reach the triumphal palm branch on the day of resurrection."
"Jesus did not live his own earthly life seeking power, as a career toward success, as a will to control others," the Holy Father said.
"On the contrary," he added, "he gave up his privileges of equality with God, and took on the condition of a slave, becoming like men. He obeyed the Father's plan all the way to death on the cross. Thus he left his disciples and the Church a precious teaching: 'Unless the grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.'"
At the end of the celebration the Holy Father addressed the Canadians present in English: "I greet the young Canadians present, led by the archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal [Aloysius Matthew] Ambrozic, and to them I entrust the cross.
"I encourage you to prepare well for the next important appointment of World Youth Day, which has as its theme 'You are the salt of the earth ... you are the light of the world.' Dear young people, get ready to welcome the young people of the world to your beautiful country by renewing your own fidelity to Christ the Lord. Fidelity to Christ, this is my invitation to all the English-speaking pilgrims. Until we meet in Toronto!"
350,000
Youths Reserve Places in Toronto for 2002
Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims Offer to Help
ROME, APR. 8, 2001 (Zenit.org).- With more than a year left to go before Toronto's World Youth Day, 350,000 youths from all over the world have already made their reservations, the event's director general says.
The event director, Canadian Father Thomas Rosica, of the Order of St. Basil, is overjoyed by the response. He returned to Toronto from Rome last August with a key idea: to initiate a program of youth pastoral care at the national level, something that had never been done before in multicultural Canada.
Father Rosica feared that many youths would not be keen to travel so far at such high expense. However, only a few weeks later, requests for reservations began to come in.
"We have already received 350,000 requests for accommodation from all over the world, excluding Canada," the 42-year-old said in an interview in Rome. "Thirty-two of the 72 dioceses of the country have already said that they are ready, prepared and delighted to receive the young pilgrims."
The story began last October, on the occasion of the plenary assembly of the Canadian bishops' conference. "We hoped that World Youth Day 2002 would be the occasion for the creation of a real program of youth pastoral care at the national level, which would follow WYD, of course," Father Rosica said. "However, what I thought would be the dessert of the Day, in fact, is the aperitif."
"The first national forum of diocesan [individuals] responsible for youth pastoral care was held in February," he explained. "There was a total of 147 delegates from all over the country, English- and French-speaking. However, this was not all."
"Representatives of the Ukrainian and Slovak Eparchies came, and also the Maronites," he said. "As I said, our country is very rich and varied. The Jewish and Muslim communities, and also Hindus and Buddhists, have asked us if they can help in some way. ... Now we are wondering how we can respond to so much generosity."