Skip to main content

Over 130,000 Youth Enjoy Days In The Diocese Across Spain

MADRID, SPAIN, August 15 (CNA/EWTN News) - Madrid is hosting World Youth Day but all of Spain is joining in the celebration. More than 130,000 young people from across the world are in Spain's 65 dioceses, before the international gathering begins on Aug. 16.

"The Days in the Dioceses are a great way to prepare for WYD," said program organizer Javier Igea on August 11.

The young pilgrims from 137 countries are being offered free accommodation by each diocese in either schools, parishes, sports centers or homes. Each day the pilgrims meet with young local Catholics for prayer and worship at the shrines and religious sites held dear by each region.

So while French pilgrims in the north-eastern Diocese of Oviede are making a pilgrimage to the shrine of La Virgen de Covadogna, Italian pilgrims in nearby Galicia are visiting the tomb of the Apostle St. James in Santiago de Compostela.

Meanwhile, the city of Avila, famed for its connection to the 16th century St. Teresa of Jesus, hosted a retreat entitled "Teresa of Jesus: Rooted and built up in Christ." The retreat culminated in a sound and light show on the evening of Aug. 13.

The visiting pilgrims are also being offered historical tours, non-religious cultural activities as well as free time to themselves.

"We participated in WYD at Rome in 2000 and lived the Days in the Dioceses, welcomed by families in the city of Imola," said Patricia and George, a young married couple from Guadalajara, near Madrid. They are currently hosting three pilgrims from California.

"This WYD in Madrid is an opportunity for us to give back what we received 10 years ago and for the pilgrims who will come to have a chance to live the experience of living with a host family."

Organizers say they are insistent that cost not be a barrier to participation. That means that 230 Haitian pilgrims are being financially supported in their visit to the historic region of La Mancha, just 40 minutes south of Madrid.

The "Days in the Dioceses" initiative was begun in 1997 at World Youth Day in Paris as a way of allowing all of France to participate in the event. It has since been replicated at each subsequent World Youth Day.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Schedule of Masses and Pilgrimages at Carmelite Monastery

Solemnity of our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2011. Cebu Carmel Solemnity of our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2011 Schedule of Masses and Pilgrimages (see pictures) for the Novena  Cebu Carmelite Monastery, Cebu Philippines. Taken from: @Ste_de_Lisieux   (twitter Account) and http://lovepetitefleur.blogspot.com Mother of God, Queen and Beauty of Carmel, Pray for us. Flower of Carmel Vine blossom-laden, splendour of heaven, Child-bearing yet maiden, None equals thee. Mother so tender, whom no man didst know, On Carmel's children thy favours bestow, Star of the sea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "O Star of the Sea, help and protect us! Show us that you are our Mother!" Thursday, July 7     6:00 a.m. Holy Mass Celebrant -Preacher - Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph Tan 7:30 a.m. Celebrant- Preacher- Rev. Fr. Wilfredo, Borces, MSP                 Pilgrims - Blessed Sa...

Blessed Sunday (My first Online Gratitude Journal Entry)

Hello, everyone! I am so excited to share with you that today, July 30, 2023, I have decided to start my online journal. This is something new for me, as I am not really used to writing and journaling, but I was inspired by the homily of reverend Monsignor Santos a while ago. He said that gratitude is the key to happiness and peace and that we should always thank God for the blessings we receive every day. So, I decided to start my online gratitude journal, where I will jot down all the things that I am grateful for these days and the days ahead. I hope that by doing this, I will be able to appreciate more the goodness of God and the beauty of life. For my first entry, I want to express my gratitude for the gift of life. I am grateful that I woke up today with a comfortable bed in an air-conditioned room. I am truly blessed knowing that I have a roof over my head and that I took a bath three times today. I am also grateful that I was able to eat the food I love. Lord, thank you for eve...

my Spiritual Purification Through Bro.Joey

we have our recollection and our speaker is brother joey mabborang.. he is an excellent speaker, he's so brilliant a very commendable for a job well done... he tackles about the life and works of saint john of the cross ( NADA - TODO) though he didn't gave us that much brief explanation but, i personally understand everything most especially on the life and Works of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the 7 mansions and etc., and it made me more interested to read the book that brother willow gave us.. thanks by the way bro. willow for your generosity.. bro. joey is a prolific speaker.. he moves me, lalalong lalo na nung sinabi nya na " For other people we are fool, coz we have a job but why are we here? hindi naman tayo medyo pangit pero bakit? we can have our own family and have many children pero bakit? maybe they think that we are fool, ready to sacrifice everything even our love ones but for us we are fool for the love of our beloved, our lord Jesus Christ..." i told my s...