Pilgrims from the Arlington diocese traveled to World Youth Day, a weeklong gathering of Catholic young people from around the world, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 1-6.
The event included a welcome ceremony with Pope Francis, a “Way of the Cross” prayerful guide on Jesus’ Passion, a series of catechesis focusing on integral ecology, social friendship and mercy, and a youth festival.
Sarah Przybysz, a parishioner of St. Joseph Church in Herndon who graduated from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg in May, attended WYD for the first time.
“I have always dreamed of going,” she said. “I wanted to experience for myself the powerful witness of young people from around the world gathering to rejoice and encourage each other in the faith.”
She said one of the highlights of the trip was time spent in Fatima: “It was such a profound experience to crawl on our knees and pray the rosary along the same path the children of Fatima took. It is so wonderful to think about how the Blessed Mother appeared to little children.
“What has surprised me the most is how much I am able to understand songs, prayers and people from other countries. I can pick up key words related to the faith and it’s so comforting and exciting to recognize how much we share across the world. I especially love hearing the Salve Regina floating through the crowds.
“I will take away from this experience a great joy in knowing more of God’s church. I have witnessed so many diverse expressions of the faith and so much joy and life from other young pilgrims.”
For Aimee and Bobby Celio, parishioners of St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax, WYD has become a family affair. The couple first met at WYD in Paris in 1997, and attended again in Rome in 2000.
They returned to WYD this year with three of their five children, and as chaperones of Nativity Catholic Church’s youth group, where they volunteer.
“We kind of jumped at the chance,” said Aimee. “We really want (our children) to see and experience firsthand how big and universal the Catholic faith is, as well as having the experience a pilgrimage provides.”
A day and a half into the trip, the couple had a surprise sighting of the pope, who passed by in his motorcade. “The pope (was) waving through the open window of a car, not 10 feet from all of us,” Aimee said. “It was the first time most of our students have ever seen the pope, so they were quite overwhelmed and excited. It was totally unexpected.”
She said she’ll remember the beauty of Portugal and the kindness of its people, as well as the enthusiasm of the young people at WYD.
“The excitement and fervor of the Catholic young people from all over the world is always memorable — it’s a reminder that the church is very much alive, especially in these young people. It provides us with much hope in the future of the church.”
“World Youth Day showed our 130 pilgrims that the Catholic Church is enormous, is blessed, is universal, is exciting, is relevant, and is filled with people who listen to them, who love them, and want them to know Jesus,” said Kevin Bohli, executive director of the diocesan Office of Youth, Campus and Young Adult Ministries. “Our goal in youth and young adult ministry is to help young people to become active in their faith today, but more importantly, to remain active in their parish for the rest of their lives. The experience of a World Youth Day pilgrimage clearly deepens and solidifies the faith life in a young person to help them weather those times in their lives where they may be inclined to fall away from the church.
“Being on a World Youth Day pilgrimage as a large, diocesan group was fantastic,” he added. “We were already an extremely diverse group of pilgrims representing many different cultures and parishes within our diocese. In addition, having religious sisters, religious brothers, priests, deacons, seminarians, and faithful single and married lay people allowed the young pilgrims to experience the breadth of the vocations they may be called to. Each night we gathered as one group to pray Compline, or night prayer together — something we encouraged the young pilgrims to continue each night as they return home and attempt to deepen their relationships with Christ in the years to come.”
Ahead of WYD, Bohli’s office organized a diocesan pilgrimage July 28-31 that included local sites in Lisbon, including the birthplace of St. Anthony and the Cathedral of Sé, before traveling to Fatima, the location of Our Lady’s appearance to the three shepherd children in 1917. They spent a day in Fatima and visited the Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima and the birthplaces of Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia, the Loca de Anjo, and the Holy Way, before returning to Lisbon for the start of WYD.
