World Youth Day: United in Faith
A young woman from Brooklyn who is in Madrid, Spain to celebrate World Youth Day 2011 explains why she came and what World Youth Day has meant to her personally.
Jesuits at World Youth Day
A team of Jesuits from the United States are at World Youth Day 2011 presenting, performing and giving sessions on spirituality to the pilgrims throughout the five days in Madrid, Spain.
In this video piece, Jesuit scholastic Michael Magree explains the role of the Jesuits at World Youth Day and how they are reaching out to the young people in attendance.
“World Youth Day is about giving young people an experience of the body of Christ, the experience of the Church as this universal body,” says Magree. “The Jesuits have something to contribute, something that is very profound - a great devotion to Jesus, a very personal devotion to Jesus.”
You can watch Magree’s video on the role of Jesuits at World Youth Day in this piece below:
One City, One World: World Youth Day 2011 Begins in Madrid
The following post is from the official Magis 2011 website. You can follow along with the Magis 2011 participants’ journeys in Madrid for World Youth Day, by visiting the Magis 2011 site here.
Just when you were starting to get your head around the fact that there were 3000 people at MAGIS 2011, World Youth Day arrives and multiplies that by a hundred times and more!
Hundreds of thousands of young people headed towards the Plaza de Cibeles last night for the Opening Mass of World Youth Day. The streets of Madrid were awash with noise and color, just as Loyola had been, as people of all nationalities came together to mark the beginning of World Youth Day celebrations.
Antonio María Rouco Varela, the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, presided at Mass. In his homily, he welcomed the World Youth Day pilgrims to Madrid and was greeted with a wave of loud cheers all the way down the Paseo de los Recoletos, which was lined with the huge crowds who couldn’t get anywhere near the square due to the sheer number of people.
From the sides of the street, you could watch the Mass on big screens and listen through the speaker system, although this was a bit temperamental. But the huge orchestra and choir did a fantastic job of creating a celebratory but prayerful atmosphere – no easy task when some of the congregation were nearly a mile away! It was unfortunate that the overwhelming numbers of people meant that not everybody was able to receive the Eucharist, but the exchanges of welcome and good wishes among everyone present ensured that we were truly in communion with one another. Magis 2011 has prepared us to be with Christ at the heart of the world – and now the whole world has come to Madrid!
Magis 2011 pilgrim Emma Scuglik captured this video of her and her Magis group as they prepared for the opening Mass last night.
U.S. Jesuit Chaperone and Students Discuss What Magis 2011 is All About
The 3,000 Magis pilgrims have now fanned out across Spain, Portugal and North Africa for their 100 unique Magis experiences. In small groups of about 25, the experience teams are composed of people from different countries which gives the pilgrims an opportunity to work with people from other cultures and backgrounds and who share in their faith.
The 100 experiences range from working amongst the poor, with immigrants, traveling along a religious pilgrimage “camino” or volunteering with the infirm. Accompanying the pilgrims are Jesuit chaperones like scholastic Michael Rossman, who is currently in his First Studies as a Jesuit at Loyola University Chicago, and is chaperoning a group of pilgrims from Marquette University.
Before they departed from Loyola, Rossman and three Marquette students shared what Magis 2011 is all about.
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