Updated June 15, 2005

Wanted: Group leaders for WYD volunteers 

The World Youth Day Office needs about 60 group leaders who voluntarily help briefing and guiding up to 1,000 volunteers during World Youth Day and who help qualifying the team leaders. The essential requirement for this demanding job is experience in guiding and training groups as well as in organizing and managing large events. For a detailed requirements specification and more information (e.g. about the application process and the required working time) send an e-mail to volunteers@wjt2005.de 

National Youth Day in Switzerland: Pope celebrated like a pop star 

The first national youth meeting in Switzerland was a complete success. More than 12,000 young people followed the bishops’ call to come to Bern on June 5-6, 2004. The most important guest was Pope John Paul II. The motto “Stand up”! (Luke 7:14) attracted as many as 70,000 people to attend the papal mass, making it the largest mass ever celebrated in Switzerland! The Pope who was celebrated like a pop star asked the young people to show courage in public. The Pope remembered his own youth: “Once I was 20 years old, just as you are today. I liked doing sports, loved skiing and acting. I had wishes and worries. In those years long since gone, when my home country suffered from war followed by totalitarianism I searched for the purpose in my life.” The Pope asked the young people to take action: “The time to act has begun!” On the “Market of Possibilities” in Bern there were information stands about church movements, World Youth Day and the church aid agencies. The atmosphere created by the young people anticipated the atmosphere of World Youth Day. The participants of the youth meeting in Bern agreed that this national event was a good dress rehearsal for the XX World Youth Day in Cologne.  

The World Youth Day Cross is on its way 

The World Youth Day Cross has already covered more than 6,215 miles on its pilgrimage through Germany! Many thousands of young and old people have come into contact with the Cross during the pilgrimage of the Cross and the Icon of Our Lady through the dioceses of Berlin, Görlitz, Passau, Erfurt, Bamberg, Trier and Fulda. This pilgrimage confronts historic places with the Cross’s message of reconciliation, for example the concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, the central refugee camp for asylum seekers in Zirndorf (near Nuremberg) and the prison of Ebrach. 

We are particularly pleased about the great interest in the Cross, which people show in those regions of East Germany where Christians live in a minority situation. The Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, where Martin Luther served as a monk, was deliberately chosen as an ecumenical station on the pilgrimage of reconciliation. Several hundred young people gathered there on May 8^th, 2004 in order to show their unity in front of their common symbol of faith. The pilgrimage continues in June: An important station of the Cross and the Icon of Our Lady will be the 95th Catholic Conference in Ulm. 

Young people are practicing as “architects” 

In the Archdiocese of Paderborn, a project entitled “Lego vision” has been organized in preparation of the Social Commitment Day. Young people put their idea of the “City of God” into a concrete form and use Lego bricks in order to build their vision of a church in a just world. The Lego bricks are supposed to be donated to social projects after this event.  

Cardinal challenges youth to “come in threes” 

“For more than two decades the world’s youth has formed a blessed coalition with our Holy Father. Every second year they meet him at the large World Youth Days. In God’s history with the world God changed humanity again and again in a positive way through very young people such as Mary and through very old people such as Abraham. This is still true today. This is why our Holy Father at his age of 84 years is still able to motivate millions of young people to make their way … The Three Kings came as three. This is why it would be a good idea to imitate them. Come in threes! Bring two others, each of you! We in Cologne are preparing ourselves to welcome all of you in joy, and as early as now we greet you all with a warm ‘Welcome’.”

- Joachim Cardinal Meisner, Switzerland, June 5, 2004

World Youth Day eCards available! 

Did you meet someone at World Youth Day in Toronto who you have been wanting to e-mail for a long time? Or is it your friend's birthday and they haven't heard about WYD yet? These are just two of many possible occasions to send the new eCards from WYD’s official site. Combine any of the five motifs and several motif captions to produce your very own eCard. Of course you can also add a personal message. For more details, check out: http://www.wyd2005.org/index.php?id=418#1567 

Details of the pilgrim packages 

It’s already a World Youth Day tradition to offer so-called pilgrim packages to enable participants to avail themselves of low-cost services such as simple accommodation, full board, public transport tickets, insurance and a pilgrim backpack, as well as discounted entry to museums and swimming pools etc. As a rule, the packages are cheaper than if pilgrims were to buy these services separately, and have the advantage that you virtually don't have to take care of anything yourself. In addition, the packages include a pilgrim ID card that is used to gain access to reserved areas during the large-scale events. At XX World Youth Day there will be five different package types, each offering a variety of services: three packages for those staying all week, and two packages for weekend guests. The packages can be easily booked during registration, which will start in September 2004 on the WYD official site. 

For the first time discounts will be offered for early bookings. Each country has been assigned to one of three country zones depending on their economic strength (measured by gross domestic product) and certain indicators of living standards. Pilgrims who register early will receive a discount of 5% (for bookings received until December 31, 2004) or 3% (March 31, 2005) on the package prices.  

World Youth Day remembered in Normandy 

During the summer of 2004 many memorial services will be held in Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied Landing. On 19 June, the dioceses in lower Normandy and government agencies held a peace festival for young people in the presence of the Patriarch of Jerusalem and eyewitnesses to the landing on the beach at Arromanches. In his capacity as reserve officer in the German Army, Michael Alberts, a member of staff in the World Youth Day Office, was invited to speak at this event to send out a signal of peace and reconciliation among the peoples. In his speech, delivered before an audience of over 2,000, he also referred to XX World Youth Day in Cologne and was rewarded with vigorous applause. 

Meanwhile, supported by the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio (USA) the World Youth Day Office has contacted an eyewitness to the events in Normandy. The former US Army soldier and now priest David Silva, who was wounded during the Allied Landing and later forgave the German aggressors, will contribute his experiences to an international support document for World Youth Day. 

Cologne working to offer excellent hospitality 

“Hospitality is one of the core elements of World Youth Day. Meeting young people from all over the world is an especially good opportunity to mobilize the vitality of our own young people and our Church. We want to give our guests everything we are and everything we have - and we are sure that we will receive even more from our guests in return, especially through their faith.”

Volunteer now! 

We are pleased to have the first long-term volunteers with us in Cologne, and planning is already underway for next year, because we need you!  For the XX World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne we are looking for approximately 20,000 volunteers who will help in July and August, 2005, with the immediate execution of World Youth Day.  Among the different areas where help is needed: meal distribution, file services, assistance for persons with disabilities, assistance in the Call Center, and much more.  You will also of course have time to participate in all the World Youth Day activities.  All volunteers must be 18 years old at the time of World Youth Day and be able to speak English or German.  All accommodation, meals, and transport within the Archdiocese of Cologne are free for volunteers.  In addition, you will receive a Pilgrim’s Backpack, a T-Shirt, and a certificate stating that you have worked as a volunteer.  More information can be obtained by calling our Info Line at 0221-49-2005-82, by emailing us at volunteers@wjt2005.de, or on the Internet at www.wyd2005.org 

Show your colors, wave your flag – now with World Youth Day banners 

The new World Youth Day banners are available!  You can now order flags and banners in various sizes and formats at the official WYD Internet shop.  The collection includes banners which may be displayed in several different ways.  Just browse through the selection and then wave your flag!  You can find all information as well as more items at www.wjtshop2005.de. 

Pilgrim Registration Begins 

In the World Youth Day office yet another countdown is ticking: at the beginning of September pilgrim registration will begin over the official website www.wyd2005.org.  There you will find all information about the conditions for registration, the need to have one responsible group leader, visa questions, etc.  The best part: if you register before the end of 2004 you will receive a 5% discount on the cost of your pilgrim packet.

Ecumenical celebrations at WYD 

World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne will also see a number of ecumenical celebrations. Regardless of their denomination all young people are invited to attend the celebration of faith in Cologne, said the Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, at September’s plenary meeting of bishops in Fulda. At the same time he warned against ‘forming linguistic or continental ghettos at World Youth Day’. Young people from Cameroon should also be able to meet Latin American youngsters, and their German hosts. 

Games for young people from all over the world 

An intercultural games collection for young people has just been produced by publishing houses Herder and Haus Altenberg. The so-called ‘Global Games’, a collection of 70 games and exercises for intercultural exchange, are suitable for young people aged 16 and up. Each game is explained in several languages. They serve to give a framework for intercultural encounters during the Days of Encounter. Global Games can be ordered online at www.jugendhaus-duesseldorf.de/shop/index.htm or by fax from +49 (0)211 46 93 – 172. 

Rosaries from the Holy Land 

Rosaries from the Holy Land will be available at WYD. Father Donald Moore from the Pontifical Bible Institute in Jerusalem took the initiative and used donations to have as many as 185,000 rosaries made for WYD. Moore intends to find further funding in order to produce more rosaries.   

EWTN’s Life on the Rock gearing up for World Youth Day 

EWTN’s live television show for young adults, Life on the Rock, is gearing up for the 20^th World Youth Day in Cologne. Host Fr. Francis Mary Stone urges young people from around the world to join the Holy Father for this August 2005 celebration. To visit Life on the Rock’s “World Youth Day Central”, click here

John Paul II Signs Up as World Youth Day Pilgrim