Sean McMahon, Diocesan Youth Leader

The Diocesan Youth service took a group of 40 to the World Youth day. The group was led by myself, with Fr Fr Michael Docherty as our chaplain. Other clergy on board were, Fr.Manny Gribben and Fr Andrew Allman. We travelled by way of the diocese of Trier spending four days with host families in the twon of Idar-Oberstein.
On the Friday 12th August we went to the historic city of Trier itself to share in the Mass of welcome with some other 8,000 pilgrims people from Liverpool and Plymouth dioceses. On the Monday all the visiting pilgrims left the host city and journeyed to Düsseldorf for the main events of World Youth Day.
Now we were based in the outskirts of the city with easy access to public transport. The opening Mass for those based in Düsseldorf took place on Tuesday at the football stadium of Düsseldorf it was a monumental occasion with vast numbers inside and unfortunately some outside who couldn’t get in! The following days concentrated on Catechesis shared with 10,000 other English speaking pilgrims and led by Cardinal Mc Carrick from Washington USA.
We watched the opening celebration by the Holy Father on a big screen in Burgplatz in Düsseldorf, while Bishop Patrick and Fr.Robert Billing made the journey into Cologne to see it. On the Friday evening the group visited Cologne Cathedral and viewed the Shrine of the Magi at On Saturday we attended the vigil with the Holy Father Pope Benedict XV1. We had a godo vantage point just 100 yards from the big screen. The atmosphere was electric and the whole event made “Glastonbury look small” according to some.
The whole event ended with Mass on the Sunday morning celebrated by the Pope. WWe finished the pilgrimage with a meal followed by speeches from Bishop Patrick, and some of the young people themselves. There are to be two follow up events. First is the National reunion on 12th November 2005 at Liverpool Cathedral. Second, a New Year event at a diocesan level. Then we meet again in Sydney, in January 2008.

A PERSONAL REFLECTION Adrian Hulme, Carlisle
For six months of my Gap Year (200) I worked in a school in Chile. Since then I have been back three times. I got to know some of those children very well and was able to be with them for World Youth Day in Cologne. For our group World Youth Day was the climax of a pilgrimage which started months ago while still in Santiago. They had joined together in as a community, had travelled to Cologne as a community and would return to Chile as a community. The catechesis in Germany joined hundreds of children from various parts of the world together in their search for Christ. Mass was the final celebration of the catechesis each day and was certainly the most enjoyable.

Leading up to World Youth Day Pope John Paul II had said that we should search for Christ, ask His whereabouts, find Him, worship Him, and let Him send us back into the world. Many felt sad to be leaving, but in our search for Christ it was a wonderful event. Our new Pope, predicted, many would have a feeling of disorientation upon returning to their countries. He connected this feeling with that of the Three Kings whom would have surely felt disorientated on their journey back to their own country having found Jesus. This feeling would be natural, he said, but it was vital for them to return home with joy and not be afraid to continue their journey through life with an ever-growing faith. Although I am now back in Carlisle and they are in Santiago, our week together in Cologne allowed me to share with a community of which I still feel very much a part.

We regret that we have not been given names to accompany any of the photographs on pages 6 & 7, but we hope they will help give our readers a flavour of the events described. –Ed.