Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala was one of the few bishops who actually journeyed with young pilgrims from their home diocese all the way to Australia for World Youth Day.And the San Gabriel regional bishop wouldn't have it any other way.
"I enjoyed travelling with over 180 youths, young adults and their chaperones on the bus and plane, and staying with them in the hotel for the first part of our pilgrimage," he told The Tidings after returning to Los Angeles.
"I enjoyed that because it's an opportunity to be close with them, and they see you in a different way."
For Bishop Zavala, in fact, this was his fifth time at the semi-annual world-wide event, started by Pope John Paul II in 1984.
He also attended World Youth Days in Paris (1997), Rome (2000), Toronto (2002) and Cologne (2005).
"One of the gifts of the whole thing is kids have an opportunity to see a little bit of the universality of the church - that the church is a lot bigger than their little parish," he pointed out.
"They meet kids from all over the world who are excited about their faith. I think that's wonderful, a very positive thing."
Bishop Zavala was impressed by not only the respect the young pilgrims showed for Pope Benedict XVI, but also how the Holy Father related to them.
"The pope seemed to be much more comfortable in Australia than he was during his first World Youth Day experience in Cologne," he reported.
"The scholar, the academic has really come to enjoy the whole thing. And I think that's appreciated by the kids."
And like the young wayfarers, the bishop enjoyed the international flavor of meeting fellow bishops from around the world, talking to them and sharing stories about far-flung churches and dioceses.
"But the thing I found most interesting, which they've never done before at World Youth Day, was the U.S. bishops celebrated a special Mass with all the pilgrims from the United States," Bishop Zavala said, "and then after we met with our own delegations.
"I hope that's something that they continue to do," he added, "because it was a good opportunity in the midst of so many young people and the pope and everything to actually have a chance to meet with our own people."
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