Lines will be long and waits will test patience. It might be
hot and it most certainly will be tiring. Yet when several
hundred diocesan teenagers join the masses in Philadelphia
for the pope’s visit, they will gain something that lasts
beyond sunburns and sleep deprivation.
“We can never guess the effect millions of people gathering
in faith has on an individual,” said Kevin Bohli, diocesan
Youth Ministry Office director. Bohli helped organize a
pilgrimage to Philadelphia for nearly 600 teens from 20
parishes. Thirteen buses will carry the youths, their
chaperones and about eight priests to the Festival of
Families and the papal Mass.
Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington has organized a
separate trip that includes 185 students, Father Gregory S.
Thompson, O’Connell chaplain, and chaperones.
“A young person can hear about the church and participate in
it their whole lives,” Bohli said amid trip preparations.
“But when they see so many Catholics in one place, it can
ignite a spark that inspires them to see that the faith is
bigger than their family, bigger than their parish. Their
eyes open up and they really listen.”
Of course the highlight of the trip is the opportunity to see
Pope Francis, but Bohli recognizes that with such large
crowds, students might only get a glimpse of the pope from a
distance – or perhaps on a Jumbotron. There have been some
last-minute changes to ticketing policies, so planning has
been a challenge.
Even if a close-up of the popemobile or a papal selfie is
unlikely, Bohli is committed to making the experience
spiritually transformative for students. He’s booked Ennie
Hickman, a national speaker who’s made appearances at
WorkCamp and the annual high school Rally, and Catholic
musician John Hopke.
Teens will pile on buses around the diocese after school
Friday, Sept. 25, and head to Sandy Hill Camp and Retreat
Center in Maryland, about an hour south of Philadelphia.
Mass, eucharistic adoration and small-group discussions will
allow for faith and friendship building, said Bohli.
O’Connell students will stay at two parishes in Pennsylvania
and also will have time to pray in front of the Eucharist and
get to know one another.
The O’Connell and diocesan contingents plan to attend the
Festival of Families on Saturday and the papal Mass Sunday.
Both groups are attempting to obtain tickets for the latter.
Tickets are not required for either event, but they secure a
spot closer to the pope.
Rachel Giaccio, a ninth-grader at Paul VI Catholic High
School in Fairfax, would love to be near the Holy Father but
believes the pilgrimage itself has great value.
“For a long time people have gone great distances to see
sacred people and places, and I want to be part of that
tradition,” she said.
Isabel Anderson, a senior at Bishop Ireton High School in
Alexandria, is a big Pope Francis fan and signed up for the
pilgrimage as soon as she could.
“I love his message of love and acceptance,” Anderson said.
“I really see Christ in him.”
Because the pope’s actions show such clear love, she said
he’s helped her explain the core of the Catholic faith to
non-Catholic friends, including her best friend, who is
agnostic.
“He washes people’s feet; he spends time with those who are
considered lowest in society, and he meets people where they
are,” said Anderson.
David Owens, chairman of the O’Connell theology department,
hopes the trip will inspire students to declare their faith
unabashedly.
“Catholics are not known for openly professing their faith,”
he said, but seeing so many people of all walks of life
publically proclaiming their belief can challenge students to
say emphatically “that Jesus is Lord, Our Savior.”
Bohli believes the teens will be altered by the pilgrimage no
matter how close – or far – they are from the pope.
“The whole idea of pilgrimage is that you go out and come
back a different person,” he said. “It’s about growing close
to God and Christ; that’s the theology behind a pilgrimage.”
