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

You can now visit the Madrid11 website and look for all the locations for the catechesis sessions. The catechesis sessions traditionally take place from the Wednesday to Friday of WYD. In Madrid they will be on Wednesday August 17th, Thursday August 18th, and Friday August 19th, at 10:00 am. Every day there will be a ...read more

Families and young people will be the beneficiaries of the two social aid projects that will emerge from World Youth Day in Madrid, which starts on Tuesday. Madrid has been the chosen site for building a residential complex for families at risk of social exclusion. The building will have four floors and 127 homes that ...read more

For the World Youth Day pilgrim, being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of fellow Catholics for Mass will be a taste of Heaven. If one picks up an intestinal illness, however, the crowded Cuatro Vientos air base (the expansive site of the vigil and closing Mass), will provide a very different experience. With that in ...read more