Madrid World Youth Day's shortcomings offer lessons for Rio
Published on September 01, 2011 at 11:42 AM
Yago de la Cierva, communications director for World Youth Day Madrid.
Madrid, Spain (CNA): It was one of the most remarkable global manifestations of the Catholic faith in recent memory. But since pilgrims have started returning home from World Youth Day, some are talking about the disorganization they experienced and how the event could be improved.
“My sons went to World Youth Day in a group of 29,” wrote one mother from St. Joan of Arc parish in Denver, Colo.
“When they got to the Vigil on the Saturday night they were turned away, and flatly refused admittance despite their WYD credentials and being at the correct section. Basically they were told the section was full. No admittance. As you can imagine, the kids were very upset.”
Their story has been repeated in other personal anecdotes: the pilgrims were on time, at right venue, and had the correct passes but were refused entry. Organizers estimate that around 100,000 of the 1.5 million pilgrims were affected by such problems.
Although pilgrimages usually contain some form of penance, many pilgrims were not expecting the lack of portable toilets at the venue, the condition of those that were available, and the lack of transport to and from downtown Madrid. When it came to redeeming pre-paid food vouchers at the designated outlets, some pilgrims were told after waiting in line three to four hours that all the food was gone.
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MADRID WYD 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Top Favourite Questions Regarding My Experience in #Madrid11 #WYD
Since my return from the World Youth Day in Madrid, I have been meeting with my friends and sharing my experiences with them . Here are some of the top frequent questions that has consistently surfaced .
1. Was the WYD a life changing experience ?
I do not feel that I have been tremendously changed from my pilgrimage to Madrid, but I do feel a sense of change slowly taking place. I don't think it was an instant wake up call, but rather one that is taking root in my heart. It was certainly an eye opening experience, that has gotten me burning to change.
I return with a conviction of my faith , enforced that Jesus is our God and Saviour. I am embolden to stand up for my faith and to live my life as a Catholic with Hope, Love , Joy and Charity. I am eager to share my experience with anyone who ask. I am reminded that I have been created to do great things, because I am His beloved creation. I resolve to do my best, so that my Saviour did not die in vain.
2. What was the single most significant event of the WYD ?
Honestly, I cannot say, except that it was the overall experience. I saw millions of Catholic , united in their faith. I saw the joy of being a Catholic, and the open expression of love for Jesus. I was overwhelmed by the open celebration of our faith by the Pilgrims. I was awed that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament brings millions of people to their knees in silence. I was humbled by the thousands of priest, bishops and religious who gave their life in service to Christ. To me, the most significant event in the WYD, was the whole event in itself. The people I met, my experiences and my own personal spiritual journey in Madrid
3. What was the most memorable event in Madrid ?
Interestingly enough, this was actually not an official program in the WYD. It was on the first day of the Cathechesis Sessions, where I went to the Love and Life Center (Center for English Speaking Pilgrims). I arrived late, and the venue was closed as it was full. As I was waiting outside, I met a few Malaysian Pilgrims in a similar plight, who was tagging along with pilgrims from the Chicago Diocese.
It was then, that the Priest - Fr Mani, sought his Bishop's permission, and they decided to hold an impromptu cathechesis session right at the doors of the Love and Life center. Fr Mani, called those within earshot, to gather round, make themselves comfortable. He asked us to introduce where we were all from (Washington, Malaysia, Chicago, New York etc) .
We started with the daily scripture reading. Then Fr Mani brought up the topic "The Challenges of our Faith". He asked us what are the challenges that we face when practicing our faith, and he called upon the Malaysians first. We openly shared with the group, the challenges we Malaysians had in practicing our faith, including the confiscation of bibles, obstruction in building places of worship, prohibition on using the word Allah, prohibition in the open worship, desecration of the Eucharist and etc.
He further asked us how it made us feel , and why we felt this way. As I shared, I realized that I was choking and tearing. I did not realise that these pent up issues had built an emotional burden within me.
One question that we could not answer was " With all these challenges, How do we practice our faith? ". I guess by then, we were caught up with emotions.
After the session & the sharing with all, a number of pilgrims from US came up to us Malaysians. They thanked us for our open sharing which touched them. Some of them asked us further questions, and offered their prayers for us.
Well Fr Mani, I've reflected on your question , and here is my answer. I will stand firmly in my right to practice my faith and to share my faith openly with Love , Joy , Hope and Charity (As Archbishop Dolan said in his cathechesis session)
Btw , Fr Mani is a newly ordained priest, and it was so inspiring to see his enthusiasm, energy and initiative.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
1. Was the WYD a life changing experience ?
I do not feel that I have been tremendously changed from my pilgrimage to Madrid, but I do feel a sense of change slowly taking place. I don't think it was an instant wake up call, but rather one that is taking root in my heart. It was certainly an eye opening experience, that has gotten me burning to change.
I return with a conviction of my faith , enforced that Jesus is our God and Saviour. I am embolden to stand up for my faith and to live my life as a Catholic with Hope, Love , Joy and Charity. I am eager to share my experience with anyone who ask. I am reminded that I have been created to do great things, because I am His beloved creation. I resolve to do my best, so that my Saviour did not die in vain.
2. What was the single most significant event of the WYD ?
Honestly, I cannot say, except that it was the overall experience. I saw millions of Catholic , united in their faith. I saw the joy of being a Catholic, and the open expression of love for Jesus. I was overwhelmed by the open celebration of our faith by the Pilgrims. I was awed that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament brings millions of people to their knees in silence. I was humbled by the thousands of priest, bishops and religious who gave their life in service to Christ. To me, the most significant event in the WYD, was the whole event in itself. The people I met, my experiences and my own personal spiritual journey in Madrid
3. What was the most memorable event in Madrid ?
Interestingly enough, this was actually not an official program in the WYD. It was on the first day of the Cathechesis Sessions, where I went to the Love and Life Center (Center for English Speaking Pilgrims). I arrived late, and the venue was closed as it was full. As I was waiting outside, I met a few Malaysian Pilgrims in a similar plight, who was tagging along with pilgrims from the Chicago Diocese.
It was then, that the Priest - Fr Mani, sought his Bishop's permission, and they decided to hold an impromptu cathechesis session right at the doors of the Love and Life center. Fr Mani, called those within earshot, to gather round, make themselves comfortable. He asked us to introduce where we were all from (Washington, Malaysia, Chicago, New York etc) .
We started with the daily scripture reading. Then Fr Mani brought up the topic "The Challenges of our Faith". He asked us what are the challenges that we face when practicing our faith, and he called upon the Malaysians first. We openly shared with the group, the challenges we Malaysians had in practicing our faith, including the confiscation of bibles, obstruction in building places of worship, prohibition on using the word Allah, prohibition in the open worship, desecration of the Eucharist and etc.
He further asked us how it made us feel , and why we felt this way. As I shared, I realized that I was choking and tearing. I did not realise that these pent up issues had built an emotional burden within me.
One question that we could not answer was " With all these challenges, How do we practice our faith? ". I guess by then, we were caught up with emotions.
After the session & the sharing with all, a number of pilgrims from US came up to us Malaysians. They thanked us for our open sharing which touched them. Some of them asked us further questions, and offered their prayers for us.
Well Fr Mani, I've reflected on your question , and here is my answer. I will stand firmly in my right to practice my faith and to share my faith openly with Love , Joy , Hope and Charity (As Archbishop Dolan said in his cathechesis session)
Btw , Fr Mani is a newly ordained priest, and it was so inspiring to see his enthusiasm, energy and initiative.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sharing the Experience of #wyd #madrid11
It has been more then 2 weeks since my return from Madrid. In the 2 weeks, I have met many of my friends and family - catholic and non catholic alike, who enquired about my experiences in Madrid.
One interesting experience was over the last weekend, where I was wearing my Madrid WYD T-shirt out in the Mall. In one of the outlets where I decided to stop by, the sales person who was assisting me enquired if I was wearing the WYD T-Shirt.
He then proceeded to ask me about my experience. I was able to share with him my journey in WYD, and had the further opportunity to encourage him to attend the next world youth day in Rio.
This goes to show, that our experience in Madrid did not end in Spain, but will continue on in our lives. We have already been "instructed" by the Pope to go and share our experience with everyone. I just didn't expect the Holy Spirit to send strangers my way as well :D
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
One interesting experience was over the last weekend, where I was wearing my Madrid WYD T-shirt out in the Mall. In one of the outlets where I decided to stop by, the sales person who was assisting me enquired if I was wearing the WYD T-Shirt.
He then proceeded to ask me about my experience. I was able to share with him my journey in WYD, and had the further opportunity to encourage him to attend the next world youth day in Rio.
This goes to show, that our experience in Madrid did not end in Spain, but will continue on in our lives. We have already been "instructed" by the Pope to go and share our experience with everyone. I just didn't expect the Holy Spirit to send strangers my way as well :D
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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