Rosary movement offers prayers for World Youth Day participants

Holy Cross Family Ministries is promoting a three-month rosary campaign foremost up to World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain.

The prayer plan, called Firm in the Faith with Mary, aims to make World Youth Day, “ a truly religious event for all the young people,” Father John Phalen, president of the ministry, told.

“We know that many young people have originate their calling to a religious vocation at World Youth Day, so we're particularly asking people to offer their rosaries to that,” he added.

The rosary campaign is being promoted by Family Rosary International, one of Holy Cross' quite a few ministries. They are asking families and persons to pray the rosary every Saturday from now until World Youth Day in August, for young people just about the world to be awakened and deepened in their faith.

The ministry aims in exacting to spread the word through social media.

Spanish choir prepares to sing for World Youth Day

The Donostiarra Choir, the most prestigious in the Spain, will sing for Pope Benedict XVI at the final Mass for the World Youth Day 2011.

The youth event will take place in Madrid, Spain on Aug. 15-21, 2011.

World Youth Day 2011 organizers said the Donostiarra Choir is “an amateur choir,” composed of 185 voices. “Attesting to its greatness is an extensive list of awards that demonstrates it is the most important choir in the Spain and one of the best in the world.”

Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of San Sebastián noted that he hopes “the Holy Father will enjoy your performance, as he has a great ear and a highly refined soul. Above all, I hope you lift the hearts of the young people who will participate in this event.”

The General Coordinator of WYD 2011, Auxiliary Bishop Cesar Franco, also expressed his gratitude for the choir’s collaboration. Their participation is an expression of the profound desire for this event to demonstrate “the path of beauty that leads to God," he said.

The choir’s director, Jose Antonio Sainz Alfaro, explained that the repertoire for the two events has not yet been finalized, “but we would like to sing both religious music as well as folklore pieces from different parts of Spain.”

Catholics in Madrid prepare for influx of 2.5 million next August

August in Madrid usually means a citywide exodus. As families vacation along Spain's famous coastlines, the traffic eases and the capital becomes a bit less congested. Next August promises to be very different. Members of the Organizing Committee of the World Youth Day 2011 expect that up to 2.5 million Catholics will descend on the city for the Aug. 16-21 international event. To accommodate this influx, the committee will secure space in Madrid's three dioceses at locations such as universities, recreation centers and school gymnasiums. Many pilgrims will sleep on the mats or in sleeping bags. Soon the Vatican will release a list of more than 2,000 bishops who will conduct informal catechesis every morning followed by a number of cultural events in the evenings. Young Catholics can look forward to concerts, plays, and some of the best museums and palaces in the world. By mid-September, 144,000 groups from outside Spain had registered for World Youth Day, with two-thirds of them scheduled to attend Days in the Dioceses, which allows them to spend time in other parts of Spain before World Youth Day begins Aug. 16. Sixty of Spain's dioceses will participate in the Days in the Dioceses.

Impact of WYD 2011 depends on spiritual preparation, say organizers

The organizing committee for the World Youth Day Madrid 2011 recently published a pastoral plan to assist the young people in preparing for the event by deepening their spirituality through prayer and the sacraments.

“The quality of the WYD depends on our spiritual preparation,” said Angel Matesanz, director of ministry for WYD. “We need to allow ourselves to be captivated by Jesus Christ and to become his collaborators.”

Gregorio Roldan, the secretary general of the WYD and director of youth ministry for Madrid explained, “This year the objectives of the pastoral plan are much broader because young people will be coming to WYD from all over the world: the main actors will be the youth.”

The objectives will focus on three main areas: growth in the knowledge of the Jesus Christ; the fostering of prayer and participation in the sacraments; and bearing witness to the faith through word and action.

The pastoral plan underscores personal preparation through a greater prayer life and knowledge of Jesus Christ, as well as the regular use of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation. It also encourages family prayer, participation in parish life and spreading the word about WYD to friends and acquaintances.

Message For World Youth Day 2011

VATICAN CITY - "Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith" is the title of the Message of Benedict XVI for the twenty-sixth World Youth Day, which is due to be celebrated in the Spanish capital Madrid during the month of the August 2011.

The Message - dated from the Vatican on 6 August, Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord - has been published today. Paragraphs taken from the English-language version are given below. The Pope writes:

I often think back on the World Youth Day held in Sydney, Australia, in 2008. There we had an experience of a great festival of faith in which the Spirit of God was actively at work, building deep communion among the participants who had come from all over the world. That gathering, like those on previous occasions, bore rich fruit in the lives of many young people and in the life of the whole Church. ... Now, at a time when Europe greatly needs to rediscover its Christian roots, our meeting will take place in Madrid with the theme: "Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith".

In every period of history, including our own, many young people experience a deep desire for personal relationships marked by truth and solidarity. ... In thinking of my own youth, I realise that stability and security are not the questions that most occupy the minds of young people. True enough, it is important to have a job and thus to have firm ground beneath our feet, yet the years of our youth are also a time when we are seeking to get the most out of life. ... We wanted something great, something new. We wanted to discover life itself, in all its grandeur and beauty. Naturally, part of that was due to the times we lived in. During the Nazi dictatorship and the war, we were, so to speak, "hemmed in" by the dominant power structure. So we wanted to break out into the open, to experience the whole range of human possibilities. I think that, to some extent, this urge to break out of the ordinary is present in every generation.

... Is this simply an empty dream that fades away as we become older? No! Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. ... The desire for a more meaningful life is a sign that God created us and that we bear His "imprint". God is life, and that is why every creature reaches out towards life. Because human beings are made in the image of God, we do this in a unique and special way. We reach out for love, joy and peace. So we can see how absurd it is to think that we can truly live by removing God from the picture! God is the source of life. To set God aside is to separate ourselves from that source and, inevitably, to deprive ourselves of fulfilment and joy.

In some parts of the world, particularly in the West, today's culture tends to exclude God, and to consider faith a purely private issue with no relevance for the life of society. Even though the set of values underpinning society comes from the Gospel - values like the sense of the dignity of the person, of solidarity, of work and of the family - we see a certain "eclipse of God" taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity.

For this reason, dear friends, I encourage you to strengthen your faith in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the future of society and of the Church! As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Colossae, it is vital to have roots, a solid foundation! This is particularly true today. Many people have no stable points of reference on which to build their lives, and so they end up deeply insecure. There is a growing mentality of relativism, which holds that everything is equally valid, that truth and absolute points of reference do not exist. But this way of thinking does not lead to true freedom, but rather to instability, confusion and blind conformity to the fads of the moment. As young people, you are entitled to receive from previous generations solid points of reference to help you to make choices and on which to build your lives: like a young plant which needs solid support until it can sink deep roots and become a sturdy tree capable of bearing fruit.

Celebrations begin towards WYD 2011

National WYD Committee members are pictured with the Spanish flag. Bernadette Kreutzer, Malcolm Hart, Chair - Selina Hasham, Fr Richard Healey, Phil Ryall

Across Australia, dioceses, schools, communities and movements have started celebrating "12 months out" from World Youth Day (WYD).

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference says up to 5,000 local pilgrims are expected to travel to Madrid for the celebration next August. Events counting down to the milestone have begun across Australia, including in Sydney and Hobart late last week.

A huge schools gathering in Sydney at Holy Cross College, Ryde saw some 600 students and teachers from the Archdiocese taking part in the event organised by Anthony Gordon, Archdiocesan Youth Ministry Coordinator, Sydney Catholic Education Office.

"A short Spanish lesson was conducted by Rita Halloun and Ryan Acosta and Spanish chaplain, Fr Jose Maria Enedaguila SJ welcomed the gathering on behalf of the city of Madrid. It was wonderful to have Cardinal Pell lead our preparation for Madrid 2011 with a mass beautifully accompanied by Gary Pinto and his band", said Anthony.

A similar event was held in Tasmania.

Bishops Conference delegate for youth Bishop Joe Grech will be attending World Youth Day and attests to the powerful renewal of faith it can provide.

"World Youth Day is one of the greatest opportunities we have as a Catholic Church to evangelise young people. This event truly demonstrates the global Church, and shows how Jesus Christ unites us all in his love", said Bishop Joe.

Preparations, planning and fundraising is well underway by over 60 pilgrimage groups including groups from the Archdiocese of Brisbane, the Diocese of Townsville and the Archdiocese of Perth who are working to develop their full itineraries with Harvest Tours.

Classical Music Concerts to Raise Funds for WYD 2011

Madrid, Spain -- Organizers for the World Youth Day Madrid 2011 announced a series of the concerts featuring classical masterpieces which will be held to raise the funds impoverished youths wanting to attend the global youth event next year.

Spotlighting works from the composers such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and Rachmaninov, a series of four concerts will take place between October of 2010 and June of 2011, courtesy of the non-profit Excellence for Foundation. Proceeds from the shows will benefit the Solidarity Fund, which will work to cover the expenses for youth from the disadvantaged nations who want to attend the World Youth Day.

Event organizers reported on the July 14 that the concerts are one of many cultural initiatives that will take place within the next year in the Madrid to prepare for finance and the worldwide event next August.

Masterpieces such as the Beethovan's 5th Symphony, Bach's “Jesus bleibet meine Freude” and Handel's “Messiah” will be led by a variety of the international conductors such as Janos Kovacs, Stephen Layton, Darrell Ang and Cristóbal Soler.

The four concerts will take place at the National Auditorium in the Madrid and will feature several orchestras, including the Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia, the European Royal Ensemble and the Orquesta Filarmónica Excelentia.

500 year-old monstrance to be used at 2011 World Youth Day

Pilgrims attending on World Youth Day in Madrid next year will see a monstrance from the 15th century that is known as “the finest example of the Spanish silverwork of all time.” The Monstrance of Arfe will used during a time of Eucharist adoration led by the Pope Benedict XVI at the international youth gathering.

According to the press release, the monstrance “is popularly known for being used during the Corpus Christi procession each year in the Toledo. It measures almost 9 feet tall and is made of gold and the silver.”

Francisco Portela, professor of the Art History at the Compultense University of Madrid, said the monstrance “is the finest example of the Spanish silverwork of all time” and underscored that WYD would be a worthy occasion to bring the masterpiece to Madrid.

Juan Sanchez, the dean of the Cathedral of Toledo, where the monstrance is kept, said, “We were pleased to allow the monstrance to be used for the WYD, knowing that it will be used for such a great purpose.”

The origin of the Eucharistic monstrances dates back to the 13th century with the establishment of the feast of Corpus Christi. They were developed primarily in the Flanders and Germany, where the Arfe family had its origins.

The famous Monstrance of the Arfe is the masterpiece of German silversmith Henry of Arfe, who finished it in 1524 after nine years of work.

The Eucharistic adoration led by the Holy Father will take place on the August 20 at the Cuatro Vientos Airfield, where the vigil will be held on Saturday night. Young people will be able to “contemplate and admire a work of art that is unique in the world and is being used as its creators to be imagined, and they will rediscover the value of art in the liturgy,” organizers said.

Pope Looks Forward To Occasion Provided For International Youth In WYD2011

Rome, Italy - The Holy Father met on Friday with the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid Antonio Maria Rouco Varela and sponsors for working for the success of World Youth Day 2011. The Pope explained the importance of next August's encounter of youth during the audience after that which WYD2011's executive director briefed journalists on the planning process.

Many of the 55 people present for the audience with the Pope on Friday were from the "Madrid Vivo" Foundation, founded by the cardinal and the local businessmen last year to "seek solutions to the moral roots of the economic crisis" and to make the city more aware of values.

Yago de la Cierva, executive director and the spokesman for WYD2011 explained to journalists in the Holy See's Press Office that the major aim of the foundation at the moment is collaboration with the organizers of the next World Youth Day, to be held in the Spanish capital.

During Friday's audience with them in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, Pope Benedict XVI invited the members of "Madrid Vivo" to continue their generous collaboration for this "beautiful initiative," saying that it's not just a simple meeting of the masses, "but a privileged occasion so that the young people of your country and of the entire world may let themselves be 'conquered' by the love of Christ Jesus..."

He noted that there are many of young people looking forward to the encounter to be held from Aug. 16-21 of next year, where they will meet to "listen together to the Word of Christ, ever young, and be able to share their faith that unites them and the desire that they have to build a better world, inspired in the values of the Gospel."

Mr. de la Cierva said that after the audience of the Pope signed a registration form as the first pilgrim for WYD2011.

He also mentioned that plans are moving forward and smoothly for the encounter for which Cardinal Rouco Varela expects more than two million participants, including more than 600,000 youth will come from outside of Spain.

Among the broad cross-section of details he provided regarding the complexities of the considerations that go into planning for the "Day" and the variety of the charitable contributions they have received, the executive director explained that planners are making extensive use of social networks to get feedback from youth and give them a greater say in decisions regarding the initiative.

To reach out to youth, the organizing committee has 70 volunteers working online in 17 different languages. Mr. de la Cierva said proudly that their Facebook page just welcomed their 111,111th "friend," a "significant" milestone for WYD2011.