| Spain – How the WYD preparations are going |
| Italy – The SYM Europe “Small Team” at work |
At the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI, hundreds of thousands of young people will flock to Madrid to take part in this great gathering planned for 11 to 15 August next year. As on previous occasions of the World Youth Day there will also be groups of young people from Salesian centres where already, at world level and especially in Spain, preparations for the event are being made.
From the very start Salesian centres in Madrid declared their willingness to collaborate in the organisation of the World Youth Day, offering their services and expressing their readiness to accommodate, in the first place the over 4,500 young people of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) already booked. They will not be the only ones, however, given that many other thousands of young people are expected to be hosted and cared for within the organisations of the various dioceses.
For about a year, the team put together by those responsible for the youth ministry of the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians have been working on the logistics of the infrastructures needed to host so many young people. The Salesian houses in Madrid and the surroundings are already considering how best to welcome the young pilgrims, and various working parties have been formed (secretariat, pastoral animation, volunteers, logistics, communication) so as to have everything ready for next summer.
Yesterday, Thursday 17 June there was meeting to assess the state of the preparations. The meeting also had on the agenda the programme for the evening of 17 August, on which as on previous occasions of WYD, there will be a meeting of the SYM members with the Rector Major of the Salesians and the Mother General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
The Salesian youth ministry programme during the coming year in the institutes, parishes and youth centres will be linked to WYD. There will be topics for reflection related to the WYD motto and catechesis in order “to encourage the young people to feel themselves members of the Church so that they might be aware of their Christian vocation,” declare those responsible for Salesian youth ministry. Values such as a sense of Church, communion and the international dimension will be part of the celebrations, of the campaigns and of the material provided throughout the whole of the coming year.
For young Spaniards, especially those in Madrid, there will be emphasis in particular on the virtue of hospitality, given that they are being asked to work actively in welcoming young people from all round the world.
Published 18/06/2010
