World Youth Day 2016 – Day Fourteen (Final Day)

Pilgrimage to World Youth Day 2016, Krakow, Poland

The Very Rev Christopher de Souza VG EV PP our Vicar General and Episcopal Vicar for Education and Formation is leading pilgrims from the Diocese of Parramatta to World Youth Day 2016 (WYD).

WYD 2016 will be a pilgrimage to Krakow, Poland for a week-long festival of faith with millions of youth from around the world joining Pope Francis for an encounter with Jesus.

WYD is a part of a tradition initiated by the late Pope John Paul II (now St John Paul) for the Church to be with the youth, for the youth. Pope John Paul II described World Youth Day’s objective as: “…to make the person of Jesus the centre of the faith and life of every young person so that He may be their constant point of reference and also the inspiration of every initiative and commitment for the education of the new generations.”

2016 will be a very special WYD. Krakow is where the founder, Pope John Paul II, studied and was Archbishop.

The Diocese of Parramatta WYD Communications Team will be capturing stories during WYD 2016. You can follow the pilgrimage below.


Time to “come down from the mountain”

Diocese of Parramatta pilgrims were sharing goodbyes as the pilgrimage formally came to an end this afternoon. A day of reflection was held an hour south of Krakow, where pilgrims were asked to participate in final group meetings and reflections.

The pilgrimage leader, Fr Chris de Souza, told the pilgrims that now they must come down from the mountain and go down to the valley of everyday life. Drawing upon the readings from the day he used the theme of salt, and told the pilgrims to be like what Jesus meant when he said “Salt and Light” to the world.

He reflected on times as a young boy in Sri Lanka whenever got a wound he was encouraged to bathe into the sea to help heal wounds. He said, like salt, we as Christians must bring flavours out and to have healing properties.

For photos of the event, click here or below.

Retreat day (1 of 54)

Pilgrims were given an opportunity to spend quiet time alone in reflection and with their groups.

The groups are now departing from Warsaw and Vienna, some are headed home – others are taking time further on in Europe.

Pilgrims will reconvene at the Post World Youth Day events that they are expected to attend.

Thank you for reading and sharing our pilgrimage journey over the last two weeks.

God bless.

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Whilst this is the last “on the spot” blog, other stories and videos will be shared over the coming months. Please visit the Catholic Youth Parramatta page for more details.

For Photos visit the Diocese of Parramatta FLICKR page


For day thirteen, click here.

For day twelve, click here.

For day eleven, click here.

For day ten, click here.

For day nine, click here.

For day eight, click here.

For day seven, click here.

For day six, click here.

For day five, click here.

For day four, click here.

For day three, click here.

For day two, click here.

For day one, click here.

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