Some 8,000 U.S. pilgrims at World Youth Day 2011 received expressions
of gratitude and encouragement from their country's bishops, following a
Mass on the morning of August 20.
“We bishops encourage your energy, your enthusiasm and your love. We
support your witness when you go back home, we request your prayers in
return,” Chicago's Cardinal Archbishop Francis E. George told Mass
attendees at the “Love and Life Center,” this week's headquarters for
English-speaking pilgrims.
Cardinal George, who presided at the Mass, spoke “on behalf of my
brother bishops,” thanking the U.S. pilgrims “for your dedication and
your love to our Lord Jesus, for all your efforts and the testimony you
have given.”
New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan was the homilist at
the Mass, concelebrated by all of the U.S. cardinals and bishops
attending World Youth Day.
In his remarks, Cardinal George also encouraged the young pilgrims to
be “grateful to your parents, your benefactors and all those who made
possible for you to be here.”
After the Mass, delegates from the U.S. bishops' dioceses arranged
for the faithful of the local churches to meet with their bishops, at
sites throughout the large “Palacio de Deportes.”
Chicago resident Larissa Campos told CNA that “it was really cool to spend time with our bishop.”
“I haven’t seen him since I received confirmation and it was so great
to be here with him, sharing the same experience,” she added, after
meeting with Auxiliary Bishop John Manz.
“We also discovered he is a lot of fun … something we would have never imagined,” said Maricela Avila, also from Chicago.
The Mass and get-together was the last event held at the “Love and
Life” pilgrim center, hosted by the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters
of Life. At its peak, on August 17, the site hosted 20,000 pilgrims.
Sponsors of the English-speaking center included Holy Cross Family
Ministries, Canada’s Salt and Light Television Network, the Apostleship
of Prayer, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), World
Youth Alliance and the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on
Marriage and the Family.