Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth
The Diocese of Portsmouth covers Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, the Channel Isles and parts of Berkshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire
Youth
World Youth Day 2011
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We will be updating this page as we spend time in Spain.
Come back each day to see what the Diocesan group have been up to.
You can also follow us on:
Facebook - Portsmouth 2011 World Youth Day Madrid
and Twitter - @portsrcyouth
UK Pilgrims have a number of blogs from Portsmouth pilgrims.
The next WYD gathering will be in Rio de Janeiro in 2013
The theme for 2012 to be celebrated locally on Palm Sunday is "Always be joyful in the Lord!" (Philippians 4:4)
The theme for 2013 is "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19).
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We ended our time in Spain with a final celebration of Mass. We said Thank You to the Augustinian Sisters who had hosted us during our time in Madrid at Tagaste. We met our coaches for the final journey through the night to Calais and then home.
For a week the Catholic Church was in Madrid and the young people from the Portsmouth Diocese were at the heart of it, showing that the Holy Spirit was really present. They rocked at the concert by Curtis Stephan and shared in Gregorian Chant with the Sisters of Life. They listened attentively to Cardinals and Archbishops as they were encouraged to share their faith with others and to go out to witness to the world. They swapped badges and wristbands, flags and bandanas with pilgrims from all round the world. They sang hymns and prayed in a variety of languages.They return to their homes and parishioners enriched by their experiences and the encounter with the Holy Father and definitely firmer in the faith.
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After the heavy storms of the night before (the Chapels around the site were all damaged and as a result there would be no Communion available during Mass for most of the pilgrims.) the pilgrims awoke to a clear and cool morning. As we prepared for Mass we shared our thoughts on the previous nights experience. Pope Benedict arrived and made a point of thanking the pilgrims for their perseverance:
During Mass we were called to look at the person of Christ and to enter into a deeper relationship with Christ.
At the end of Mass we were invited to join with the Holy Father in 2 years time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the next WYD gathering. Whilst this had been an open secret for some time it was met with excitement at the thought of going to South America. As Mass ended with the Angelus and closing remarks we prepared to wend our way back into the city and to our accommodation. The temperature was rising again as we made our way home.
In the evening many of the group visited the Stadium Vincente Calderon, home of Athletic Madrid for a Football matcgh between Spain and the Rest of the World, others wenrt out fore their last taste of Spanish culture.
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After celebrating Mass the Portsmouth Pilgrims set out for Cuatro Vientos and the Prayer Vigil. As we travelled we were joined with pilgrims from all over the world. The temperature was certainly rising and we were grateful to locals who started to throw water over us! We arrived at the airfield and found our places. There was some entertainment shown over the screens but the temperature was rising to well over 40°.The temperature got so hot that the fire engines moved through the crowd to hose down the pilgrims.
As the evening progressed the excitement grew as we prepared to welcome Pope Benedict. As the Holy Father arrived the weather started to change. As soon as the Holy Father started the evening prayer vigil the weather changed with high winds and heavy rain as well as thunder and lightning meant there was a delay.
The weather did not put off the pilgrims and soon the vigil resumed with a time of adoration. It was certainly a case of dampened sleeping bags but not dampened hearts!
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This morning we again visited the Life and Love Centre for the Catechesis session. We were treated to a concert by Curtis Stephan and the a talk by Bob and Maggie McCarty. They reminded us of the example of Jesus at the Last Supper - Sharing Eucharist and Washing Feet.
We then had Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York talk to us about the four marks of being a Catholic today.
- Charity: What is most attractive about us is when we live up to the “See how they love one another” description. We are most nobly human when we give ourselves away in love.
- Joy is the infallible sign of God’s presence. He told a story of a curmudgeonly dying AIDS patient who sought a deathbed conversion because of the good sisters who joyfully cared for him. Joy orders life into Jesus, Others, and then Yourself.
- Hope: Archbishop Dolan told a story about the earthquake in Haiti. The Haitian Archbishop died in the tragedy and Our Lady of Perpetual Help cathedral was destroyed. Yet, the cross in the church stood. People no matter what condition they found their lives came from all over just to touch the cross, to seek hope. Hope is resilient and won’t give up. Then he told a story of a Vietnamese bishop who was imprisoned and persecuted for a very long time. Yet, he help onto his faith and hope so much that the witness inspired his jailers to form a pectoral cross and a bishop’s ring out of electrical wires upon his release.
- Love of Church: A theist is one who believes in God. A Christian is one who believes in Jesus Christ as God. A Catholic is one who believes in Jesus Christ and finds home within his Church. John Paul II called for love of Jesus Christ and His Church to be the passion of our lives. The Church is the face of God when it is radiant with faith and even when disfigured from persecution or our disfigurements.
In the evening there were the Stations of the Cross. These were brought to Madrid from all over Spain .
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Quote from a Pilgrim from East Anglia- "Excitingly, we met lots of English groups, our favourites being the group from Portsmouth, who were very friendly and excited to meet us."
Leo from Basingstoke is blogging at www.ukpilgrims.com. Here is his latest entry - The Pope has arrived and its a carnival reception
I extend an affectionate greeting to the many English-speaking young people who have come to Madrid. May these days of prayer, friendship and celebration bring us closer to each other and to the Lord Jesus. Make trust in Christ’s word the foundation of your lives! Planted and built up in him, firm in the faith and open to the power of the Spirit, you will find your place in God’s plan and enrich the Church with your gifts. Let us pray for one another, so that we may be joyful witnesses to Christ, today and always. God bless you all!
Dear Friends,
Thank you for the kind words addressed to me by the young people representing the five continents. And I salute with affection all of you gathered here, young people from Oceania, Africa, America, Asia and Europe; and also those unable to be here. I always keep you very much in my heart and pray for you. God has given me the grace to see and hear you for myself and, as we gather together, to listen to his word.
In the reading which has just been proclaimed, we heard a passage from the Gospel which talks of welcoming the words of Jesus and putting them into practice. There are words which serve only to amuse, as fleeting as an empty breeze; others, to an extent, inform us; those of Jesus, on the other hand, must reach our hearts, take root and bloom there all our lives. If not, they remain empty and become ephemeral. They do not bring us to him and, as a result, Christ stays remote, just one voice among the many others around us which are so familiar. Furthermore, the Master who speaks teaches, not something learned from others, but that which he himself is, the only one who truly knows the path of man towards God, because he is the one who opened it up for us, he made it so that we might have authentic lives, lives which are always worth living, in every circumstance, and which not even death can destroy. The Gospel continues, explaining these things with the evocative image of someone who builds on solid rock, resistant to the onslaught of adversity, and in contrast to someone who builds on sand - we would say today in what appears a paradise - but which collapses with the first gust of wind and falls into ruins.
Dear young people, listen closely to the words of the Lord, that they may be for you “spirit and life” (Jn 6:63), roots which nourish your being, a rule of life which likens us - poor in spirit, thirsting for justice, merciful, pure in heart, lovers of peace - to the person of Christ. Listen regularly every day as if he were the one friend who does not deceive, the one with whom we wish to share the path of life. Of course, you know that when we do not walk beside Christ our guide, we get lost on other paths, like the path of our blind and selfish impulses, or the path of flattering but self-serving suggestions, deceiving and fickle, which leave emptiness and frustration in their wake.
Use these days to know Christ better and to make sure that, rooted in him, your enthusiasm and happiness, your desire to go further, to reach the heights, even God himself, always hold a sure future, because the fullness of life has already been placed within you. Let that life grow with divine grace, generously and without half-measures, as you remain steadfast in your aim for holiness. And, in the face of our weaknesses which sometimes overwhelm us, we can rely on the mercy of the Lord who is always ready to help us again and who offers us pardon in the sacrament of Penance.
If you build on solid rock, not only your life will be solid and stable, but it will also help project the light of Christ shining upon those of your own age and upon the whole of humanity, presenting a valid alternative to all those who have fallen short, because the essentials in their lives were inconsistent; to all those who are content to follow fashionable ideas, they take shelter in the here and now, forgetting true justice, or they take refuge in their own opinions instead of seeking the simple truth.
Indeed, there are many who, creating their own gods, believe they need no roots or foundations other than themselves. They take it upon themselves to decide what is true or not, what is good and evil, what is just and unjust; who should live and who can be sacrificed in the interests of other preferences; leaving each step to chance, with no clear path, letting themselves be led by the whim of each moment. These temptations are always lying in wait. It is important not to give in to them because, in reality, they lead to something so evanescent, like an existence with no horizons, a liberty without God. We, on the other hand, know well that we have been created free, in the image of God, precisely so that we might be in the forefront of the search for truth and goodness, responsible for our actions, not mere blind executives, but creative co-workers in the task of cultivating and beautifying the work of creation. God is looking for a responsible interlocutor, someone who can dialogue with him and love him. Through Christ we can truly succeed and, established in him, we give wings to our freedom. Is this not the great reason for our joy? Isn’t this the firm ground upon which to build the civilization of love and life, capable of humanizing all of us?
Dear friends: be prudent and wise, build your lives upon the firm foundation which is Christ. This wisdom and prudence will guide your steps, nothing will make you fear and peace will reign in your hearts. Then you will be blessed and happy and your happiness will influence others. They will wonder what the secret of your life is and they will discover that the rock which underpins the entire building and upon which rests your whole existence is the very person of Christ, your friend, brother and Lord, the Son of God incarnate, who gives meaning to all the universe.
He died for us all, rising that we might have life, and now, from the throne of the Father, he accompanies all men and women, watching continually over each one of us.
I commend the fruits of this World Youth Day to the most holy Virgin Mary, who said “Yes” to the will of God, and teaches us a unique example of fidelity to her divine son, whom she followed to his death upon the Cross. Let us meditate upon this more deeply in the Stations of the Cross. And let us pray that, like her, our “Yes” to Christ today may also be an unconditional “Yes” to his friendship, both at the end of this Day and throughout our entire lives. Thank you very much.
Source - www.vatican.va
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Emily from Reading shares her view of World Youth Day.
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After a few glitches with the accommodation (we had been given a wrong address and a group had been directed to a derelict building!) we woke to our first full day in Madrid. After a morning spent exploring the local area the pilgrims received their packs. this was full of goodies including a hat, t shirt and fan as well as a copy of YouCat - the Youth catechism. The pilgrims then headed off into Madrid to look at the sights as well as meet people from all around the world.
Many headed to the Parque del Retiro, one of the major parks in central Madrid. here they met with some familiar faces as Fr Mark Hogan, the Diocesan Vocations promoter and Phil Carroll, one of our seminarians were on duty at the National Office for Vocations stand!
In the evening we gathered to celebrate the Opening Mass with the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid. We gathered at the Puerta d´Alcala with many thousands of pilgrims as the World Youth Day celebrations.
Afterwards some pilgrims went wearily home, whilst others still had energy to party till midnight with pilgrims from the USA, Canade, Australia and Ireland at a concert. Even Dave and Angela had enough energy to boogie on down!
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A sad day as we had to leave San Sebastian but this was more than made up with the excitement that we were finally heading to Madrid for the World Youth Day celebrations. Unfortunately, due to time constraints we had to miss the Final Mass, however Fr Chris celebrated our final Mass in San Sebastian. He spoke of his experiences of World Youth Days in Toronto and Cologne and shared the joy and excitement of these events. Bishop Crispian sent a message of support saying how he was praying for all the pilgrims.
As we journeyed down we started to experience the full blast of a Spanish summer - onward to Madrid!
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One part of the Days in the Diocese programme is to link up with a local parish, so we visited the Church of St Sebastiab the Martyr to celebrate Mass with the local people. As San Sebastian is in the Basque country it has its own local dialect of Euskkaria. The Mass we attended was in this language. Fortunately, they had a large screen on which some of the prayers and the hymns were projected onto. This allowed the pilgrims to join in! We were commended by one of the organisers, who belongs to the parish, as to the way the group entered prayerfully into the celebration.
After Mass it was time to sample the delights of San sebastian. It was the start of the Fiesta and so there was lots to see and do. Some people went off to the beach, wilst others discovered the old town. Some brave souls even climbed Mount Urguell, which overlooks the town with its imposing statue of the Sacred Heart.
In the evening we met up for a shared meal with all the other pilgrims at the Cathedral before the Prayer Vigil. We managed to get front row seats! The absolute thrill at the vigil were the bringing in of the relics of St therese of Lisieux, Some of the young people remembered the relics coming to the Cathedral 2 years ago. Bishop Jose Ignacio spoke powerfully of the need to make the right choices in life. He asked us to write a blank cheque to Christ and be open to responding to God´s call, whenever, wherever and however that may come.
The evening ended with a spectacular fireworks display on the seafront. As the display ended there was a brief downpour but even this could not douse the wonderful feeling left by the evening of prayer.
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We set out today to spend the day at Loyola, the birthplace of St ignatius of loyola, Founder of the Society of Friends (Jesuits). It was a short drive up into the mountains, however, it was also our first real tast of Spanish summer with perfect blue skies and temperatures of 30°+!
The event started with a concelebrated celebration of Mass by Bishop Jose Ignacio, the Bishop of San Sebastian. Frs Chris, Joe and Mark all concelebrated. Katy from Southampton was chosen to read some prayers during the Mass.
At the end of the Mass the Blessed Sacrament was processed around the square before being placed in the Basilica for adoration and exposition all day.
There followed an opportunity to discover the life of St Ignatius by visiting his place of birth and where he recovered from his injuries in battle. Whilst he was recovering he wrote his spirtual exercises and rule for the Jesuit order.
After a giant paella lunch, there was entertainment from the various nations present. These included songs, storytelling, dance and plays. Paul from reading and Helen from Bournemouth treated the 6,000 crowd with a Portsmouth Riverdancewhich went down a storm.
The day ended with an International Rosary, with prayers in many different languages. Unfortunately we had to be back on the coach and missed the concert in the evening.
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Emma, one of our WYD Media people, has put a report on UKPilgrims. You can read about it here!
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Another full day of travelling, but this time we knew our destination would be San Sebastian and the Days in the Diocese. The day started with a celebration of Mass before breakfast. We then boarded our coaches and again went in convoy towards Spain.
Lots of sharing of hopes and expectations as well how each person is involved in their parish communities.
As we approached Spain , the terrain changed dramatically, with the low flatlands of south eastern France being replaced by the Pyrenees. We entered Spain in late afternoon and quickly arrived at our accommodation, where everyone was glad to unpack and then get refreshed.In the evening we walked to the nearby Diocesan seminary (up a very steep hill!) to get our evening meal. We were greeted with great enthusiasm from a large group of Italian pilgrims from the Genoa area. After eating, sharing of shirts and flags took place and the pilgrims helped cement Anglo-Italian relations in song and football.
The evening ended with a short walk to the seafront to see San Sebastian in its evening finery.
We arrived back at our accommodation to meet the small group of pilgrims who flew into Spain because of visa difficulties.
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Three groups set off from Chandlers Ford, Basingstoke and Reading. After a brief pit-stop at Clackett Lane services we went in convoy to Dover to meet our ferry and to pick up Fr Chris from Woodley.
After a short crossing we journeyed under blue skies to our evening detination of Poitiers. The pilgrims went wearily to their rooms, ready to arrive in San Sebastian tomorrow.
Dave Hill
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MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS “Planted and built up in Jesus Christ,
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