BLOG: Podcast,Salt Light Hour,World Youth Day
While this year’s World Youth Day is being hosted by Spain, Canadians held the distinction of holding the first official event. On Tuesday morning, a special national gathering was held at Palacio de Deportes, better known as the Love and Life Site. The prayer service, organized by Salt + Light’s Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, featured ...read more
If you’re watching any of our coverage of WYD, either on our digital cable network or at WYD Central, you will have undoubtedly seen WYD pilgrims with their WYD backpacks. All pilgrims receive a pack with their registration. The bag itself features the official WYD colours: red, yellow and orange. Wonder what’s in the pack? ...read more
The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, preached the following homily at the Opening Mass of World Youth Day 2011. My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord 1. Welcome to Madrid for the XXVI World Youth Day announced by our Holy Father Benedict XVI in Sydney three years ago and today begins ...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
In the last 24 hours here in Madrid, I have found myself in the middle of a swarm of Brazilian pilgrims, I got caught in an Italian traffic jam, had lunch with a group of young pilgrims from Ciudad Real, Spain a.k.a. “the land of Quixote,” as one pilgrim explained, and had my eardrums blasted ...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
Every city has it’s little secrets. Some are dark and sinister, some are just plain fabulous. After eight months in Madrid, I learned one of those neat little secrets that I put in the fabulous category just because it’s downright ingenious. One of the most iconic landmarks in Madrid is Plaza Cibeles. It’s a roundabout ...read more
Madrid in August is hot, hot, hot. We’re talking two-showers-a-day hot. However, most pilgrims will be housed in group accommodation venues which means either a school gym, a community centre, or a parish hall.  All spaces can sleep a large group, but don’t normally house young people for a full week. These accommodation venues have been outfitted ...read more
Having been the Artistic Director for WYD2002 in Toronto, there is a very special place in my heart for the Youth Festival. This is the component of WYD, initiated in Paris in 1997, that allows the pilgrims themselves to be co-producers of WYD. The Catechesis Sessions and Main Events are planned by the WYD National ...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