That’s how International Liturgy Group leader Eden d’Souza described participating in the WYD Opening Mass procession. Carrying the Canadian flag, I too shared the experience of walking through the gate into the roaring crowd. I can tell you that it was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life, not to mention one of ...read more

During the Eucharistic Congress this past June, I had a blog entry called “Mabuhay!”. I was writing about the day we heard from the Filipino contingent at the Congress – they were all screaming “Mabuhay!” when Bishop Tagle from the Philippines came out to give his catechesis.Well, today, I bumped into a lively contingent during ...read more

Do you know that Australia was first named the “Southern Land of the Holy Spirit”? In fact, that’s what Australia means: “Southern Land” – Austral is southern. Boreal is northern. Learn something new everyday. Is it any coincidence that the theme for this year’s international World Youth Day, hosted in Sydney, Australia is from Acts ...read more

One of the great things about World Youth Day, which I’m discovering, is that you get to connect with people again. Among the memorable people are Gillian Kantor and her husband David. We were able to have lunch and dinner with them despite their excruciatingly busy WYD schedule. They have been working as volunteers in ...read more

Pope Benedict has landed in Australia over the weekend (that’s him pictured with Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, behind him) for a little rest and relaxation before be joins the World Youth Day events on Thursday, July 17th. In the meantime, Pope Benedict sent a message ...read more

After a twenty hour flight to Australia and an exhausting first day, the white computer screen is burning my eyes just a little. I’m determined to promptly finish my work though, as I’d rather not walk from this internet cafe to my residence much past midnight. While the rest of the S+L team is lodged ...read more

We’re delighted to have two Salt + Lighters blogging for the Catholic News Service World Youth Day blog. Associate producer Kris Dmytrenko and Basilian scholastic Chris Valka are part of a team of eight blogging for CNS ‘on the ground’ in Australia bringing different perspectives and experiences of WYD08 to the world. You can visit ...read more

The Salt + Light crew has left our Toronto broadcast centre and are en route to Austrailia as I type this. They’ll arrive in the land down under early Sunday morning, Sydney time (they’re 14 hours ahead of Toronto). Three years have already passed since Cologne, and it’s amazing to think that we’re a couple ...read more

Most of us would agree that in most Parishes ministry is divided into the following categories: sacramental ministry, ministry to families, to children, to adolescents and ministry to the elderly. But what about ministry to young adults? In this new episode of Catholic Focus we look at the challenges of ministering to young adults in ...read more

Though it’s already been a few weeks since the Eucharistic Congress, I couldn’t very well move on to thinking about World Youth Day without sharing my incredible and unique experience of the week in Québec. First, I should mention that I truly enjoyed the privilege of being part of the Salt + Light team in ...read more