World Youth Day 2011 is coming up soon! In August, an enormous group of people is going to travel to the beautiful city of Madrid.  Among the pilgrims we will see young people, priests, religious, pastoral ministers and, of course, Pope Benedict XVI. [singlepic id=51 w=320 h=240 float=right] Though I will not be going to ...read more

As we close in on the one month mark here in Madrid things are getting busier, crazier, and more intense. [singlepic id=42 w=220 float=right]The only thing that will keep us in working order (aside from proper sleep and nutrition) is prayer. The team at Holy Cross Family Ministries foresaw this event and back in May ...read more

Earlier this week a press conference was held at the John Paul II Hall of the Vatican Press Office, to present the status of preparations at less than 50 days before the start of the upcoming World Youth Day in Madrid. [singlepic id=35 w=240 float=right]Following the disclosure of the final agenda of Benedict XVI last ...read more

Just a 30 minute train ride from Madrid, in the region of Castilla – La Mancha, lies Toledo. Today it’ a small town with medieval roots and a whole host of inhabitants who commute to work in Madrid every day on the high speed AVE train. In it’s bricks however, one glimpses the days when ...read more

World Youth Day pilgrims are internationally-renowned for being polite. So it must have been in hushed tones that some expressed their dissent. Not to Pope Benedict, who generated enthusiastic responses at the Cologne and Sydney events in ’05 and ’08, respectively. Nor to the selection of this year’s host city, sunny Madrid. But rather, displeasure ...read more

Today in Madrid WYD organizers confirmed the “extra” events on the Pope Benedict XVI's agenda during the event. ...read more

MADRID – Out of the nearly two million pilgrims expected to attend World Youth Day in Madrid in August, about five thousand of those pilgrims will have some sort of disability. The WYD organization has partnered with a Spanish organization to make sure those pilgrims will be able to get the full WYD experience just ...read more

It was one of the most emotional moments of Pope Benedict’s visit to Spain. Yet the event itself was overshadowed by the two much larger gatherings of the papal visit: Mass outside the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the dedication of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona. The event I’m referring to is the ...read more

Twice during our coverage of Pope Benedict’s trip to Spain this past weekend, S+L interviewed Carol Glatz from Catholic News Service. Glatz covered the papal visit as one of the Vatican Accredited Media Personnel (VAMP). She was among 61 reporters, photographers and cameramen who were privy to a much closer view of the Pope than ...read more

It was an event over 120 years in the making. A day that Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi had always dreamed about. The day that the greatest work of his life and career would be consecrated by the leader of the Catholic Church. The Sagrada Familia Church garners over 4 million visitors a year, but up ...read more