The following post was contributed by Stefanie Romano, a team leader from the Archdiocese of Toronto Office of Catholic Youth. The OCY Toronto pilgrims visited Rome before heading to World Youth Day in Madrid. I am amazed at how active the spirit has been. Praise be to Jesus for carrying us through this miraculous day. ...read more

The following post was contributed by Stefanie Romano, a team leader from the Archdiocese of Toronto Office of Catholic Youth. The OCY Toronto group traveled to Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day. At my previous international WYD in Sydney, I visited a sheep-shearing station in the countryside. It was an odd day-trip, but Australia is ...read more

The President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Pierre Morissette, has issued the following statement on the death of the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Jack Layton. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops joins all Canadians in offering condolences and sympathy to the family, friends and political colleagues of the late Leader of ...read more

Pope Benedict XVI delivered the following homily at the Closing Mass of World Youth Day in Madrid: Dear Young People, In this celebration of the Eucharist we have reached the high point of this World Youth Day. Seeing you here, gathered in such great numbers from all parts of the world, fills my heart with ...read more

World Youth Day in Madrid ends this weekend with a giant celebration. The setting for it all is Cuatro Vientos, an air base whose length is equivalent to 48 football fields–an area capable of hosting the over one million people expected to attend the events with the Holy Father. Fr. Javier Cremades, in charge of ...read more

A presentation was made of the scenes that will cover the Via Crucis (or Stations of the Cross) that will be  held Friday on the Paseo de Recoletos. The WYD Via Crucis will feature pasos (statues used in Spanish Holy Week processions) from 12 Spanish cities. Each of these images illustrates a Station of the ...read more

Pilgrims are now pouring out of Madrid’s Cibeles Square, which packed in an estimated 500,000 pilgrims for the Opening Mass of World Youth Day. The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, presided over the liturgy. Pilgrims were also welcomed by Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, who heads the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Vatican body ...read more

Film screenings, events with actors, a soundtracks concert, and a world premiere Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 17, Madrid’s “Calle Fuencarral” will be all decked out, red carpet included, to host a day of cinema, which World Youth Day (WYD) Madrid 2011 will offer to all the world’s young people. During the day, there will be a wide ...read more

At a recent press conference, Antonio Gallo, Director of Social Networks for WYD, presented various web-based initiatives that have been underway over the past two years. In fact, the presence of the Church on social networks has been strengthened by the interest shown by Benedict XVI himself. Gallo remarked that “a Pope who ‘Tweets’ relates ...read more